


All of This is Naga's Fault

by nowweareunstoppable



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-27
Updated: 2015-12-09
Packaged: 2018-03-09 08:16:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 37,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3242693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nowweareunstoppable/pseuds/nowweareunstoppable
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Korrasami Modern AU.</p><p>Asami gets run over by a polar bear and meets a girl. Maybe high school will suck a little bit less tomorrow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Naga Behaves Badly

**Author's Note:**

> Warning for Swearing! I'm a cavewoman who thinks swearing is hilarious, so my Korra always has a dirty mouth.
> 
> Also, I have no beta so forgive any typos.

Asami sighed and finally allowed herself a little bit of self pity as she shuffled down the suburban street with her hands shoved deeply into her jacket pockets. She wasn’t exactly sure where she was, but she knew she wasn’t anywhere near home. On her moped, she could’ve just hopped onto the main highway leading into Republic City and been home within twenty minutes. Walking, she was stuck taking the quieter streets through the suburbs on the outskirts of the city. The suburbs where she had gotten hopelessly turned around.

“Should’ve just sucked it up and called Dad. Still could, I suppose,” Asami muttered to herself as she walked, even though she knew she wouldn’t call. It wasn’t the first time her fellow high schoolers had given her trouble, but they’d never gone so far as to damage her stuff. Slashing the tires on her moped was low, even for her pea brained knuckle-dragging peers. 

This was not the way she wanted her dad to find out that his golden child was actually a bit of a social outcast. Her pride kept her from dialing his number, even though that she’d been walking for half and hour now and still hadn’t managed to penetrate the monolithic maze of the inner city. Her pride, and the knowledge that interrupting her dad when he was in his workshop was a risky endeavor. 

She was peering upwards, trying to find the city skyline through the thick trees lining either side of the quiet street, when she got the first inkling that something was about to go wrong. The clue was a strange thudding noise behind her, growing steadily louder, reminding Asami of a freight train barreling down upon a poor, helpless victim. She only managed to turn halfway around before a giant white blur of fur and slobber clipped her leg as it sprinted past, its momentum slamming her so hard that she completed her turn before crashing into the pavement. Asami threw her hands out to avoid smacking her face into the sidewalk and winced as the pavement bit deep into her palms.

“Naga, NOOOOO!”

A clear, loud voice cut the air, and Asami turned to look behind her, wary of another collision. What she saw was a girl around her age sprinting towards her, arms pumping, yelling that word at the top of her lungs. Naga? What did that even mean?

The girl was clutching a leash in one of her hands, and as she slid to a stop next to Asami, she put it together that the monster that ran into her must have actually been a dog. A genetically mutated dog, or a polar bear, maybe. That thing was huge.

“Oh Spirits, I am so so sorry! She ran out the door before I clipped her leash on, she didn’t mean any harm, I promise, Naga’s just excited to be outside, I’m sorry I’m so sorry!”

The girl was clearly panicking as she kneeled over Asami, her hands hovering but not quite touching her like she was unsure if Asami would allow her to help. 

Asami flipped over onto her butt so she could raise her hands in a placating gesture. They must’ve looked worse than she thought, though, because the girl’s eyes darted straight to them and she winced hard.

“It’s ok, really, I’m fine…” Asami started, trying to cut off the girl’s frenzied stream of apologies, but she trailed off as she got a good look at the big blue eyes and the shaggy, chin length haircut covered with a grey beanie staring down at her. This girl was pretty, really pretty, in a rough-around-the-edges sort of way and the expression of concern that was pinching at the corners of her eyes and mouth did nothing to dispel it.

“I really am sorry,” the girl murmured uneasily, glancing from Asami’s face, to her hands, then down the road behind her, clearly torn between trying to help Asami and going after her escaped dog.

Asami solved her dilemma for her by jumping to her feet and offering the girl her forearm, in lieu of using her bloody hand, to help her up.

“I think she ran through those bushes into that backyard over there, come on, I’ll help you find her. Oh, and my name’s Asami.”

The girl turned red as she clasped Asami’s forearm with her hand and let herself be pulled back onto her feet. “Geez, I should be the one helping you up, I’m going to kill that dog I swear… I’d say nice to meet you but I’m sure you would have rather never have laid eyes on me.” The girl smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck and then remembered and added quickly, “I’m Korra.”

Asami smiled at her and ignored her throbbing palms as she set off towards the bushes she had seen the giant white furball- Naga- barrel through. She looked back at Korra and gestured for her to follow with a tilt of her head. “Come on!” Korra jumped and jogged to catch up with her. 

“My house is just down the road back that way, once we get Naga I’ll clean your hands up for you. I’m sure Pema has a first aid kit somewhere.”

“Ok, sounds good. I’ve been lost for ages anyway, another delay won’t hurt anything.” Asami wriggled through the bushes into the backyard, hoping the homeowner wasn’t watching them through his or her window and dialing 911.

Korra laughed and reached through the bush’s branches to clap her on the shoulder, “When Tenzin gets home from work I’ll make sure he drives you anywhere you need to go. Where you headed, anyway?”

Asami started to answer, but couldn’t help erupting into giggles as she finally broke through the bushes and took in the back yard. It wasn’t very big; basically just a brick patio and then a large, muddy garden. Oh, and a giant white dog rolling around happily in the large, muddy garden. Naga was wriggling on her back with her tongue lolling out the side of huge jaws that Asami swore were grinning up at her. The dog’s fluffy fur and droopy ears were so caked with mud that if Asami hadn’t glimpsed her earlier, she would’ve never known the dog was supposed to be white. 

She heard Korra wrestling her way out of the bush behind her, muttering expletives under her breath. Expletives that quickly increased in volume when Korra got a good look at her dog.

“Shit! Fuck! Naga, no! Seriously what the hell?! You run away, then knock over a very nice lady and now you’ve decided to channel your inner hippo? You’ve got to be joking me,” Korra howled as she tromped over and grabbed Naga’s front paws. Asami had to sit down she was laughing so hard as Korra tried in vain to drag Naga out of the muddy hole that used to be a garden. 

Disregarding her tendency to knock over strangers, the dog must’ve had a pretty good disposition because she stayed flopped over on her back and just wagged her tail as Korra finally tugged her out of the mud with a gross sounding squelch. 

Asami tried in vain to stop her giggles as she finally was able to crawl to her feet and hand Korra the leash that she’d dropped in the grass after laying eyes on her disaster of a dog. Korra grumbled a thank you and clipped the leash onto Naga’s mud-caked collar.

“It’s a good thing Pema’s at the park with the kids or she would banish you from her home forever, you stupid adorable dog.” Korra rambled as she tried to keep an angry face on. Naga simply squirmed her way into a standing position and gave Korra a giant slobbery kiss. Asami swore the dog’s tongue was so big that it licked from Korra’s chin to her forehead and knocked her beanie askew.

“Yeah yeah, don’t give me that. If you’d behaved, we’d be in the park right now. Instead, we’ve got to go bandage up poor Asami and give you a bath. This is all your fault!” 

Asami broke down into laughter again. She wished her hands would quit bleeding so she could rest them on her knees and catch her breath. Korra noticed her struggle and hustled Naga out towards the street. She caught Asami’s arm on the way and tugged her along as well.

“Dog secured, phase one is complete!” Korra chuckled, “Now lets get you cleaned up. I bet you’re eager to get far away from the irresponsible dog owner and her crazy beast.”

Asami grinned along with her and tried to calm the tingles running down her arm where Korra was touching her. If she wasn’t lying to herself, she was really enjoying Korra’s company. She had almost forgotten what it was like to talk and laugh with someone, to (maybe) have a friend.

“Actually,” Asami threw out in another fit of honesty, “This is by far the most fun I’ve had all day.

Korra threw her a teasing glance over her shoulder. The muscles of her back that Asami could see under her lose tank top were tight and rippling with the effort it took to keep Naga from pulling her off of her feet. The dog was straining at the leash, enthusiastic to sniff and enjoy every pebble on the sidewalk and every piece of foliage in the yards.

“Geez, you must’ve had a pretty rough day, then,” Korra said.

Asami’s smile dimmed a little bit and she ducked her head. Korra noticed and immediately heaved Naga to a stop.

“Woah, hey I’m sorry, I was just teasing,” Korra apologized. The hand that didn’t have a death grip on Naga’s leash was doing that hovering thing again, like she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to comfort Asami.

Asami decided to help her out and plucked her hand out of the air and gave it a little squeeze.

“Don’t worry about it, I've got thick skin. High school is just… not fun sometimes. No big deal- Oh ew, I’m sorry!”

The small lightning prick of pain that Asami felt when she grabbed Korra’s hand with hers finally registered that her hand was definitely still hurt and she had definitely just gotten blood on Korra. Great.

The other girl just laughed, however, and gave her hand a careful squeeze back before releasing her and wiping her hand off on her jeans.

“It’s all good. Not the first time I’ve gotten blood on me- Wait! That sounds creepy, I meant like- I’m not a murderer, I swear! I’ve done martial arts since I was a kid and sometimes it gets a little messy is all.” Korra swiped at the back of her neck again, something Asami was learning was a nervous tick.

“Oh cool! Dad’s had me in self defense classes for a few years now. Where do you go?”

Before she answered, Korra turned off the sidewalk and unlatched a gate that was set into a cute white picket fence. The house behind the fence was small, but immaculate. It was made of stone, and the yard was landscaped into a beautiful water garden, dotted with statues of Buddha and other meditation symbols that weren’t as recognizable to Asami.

“I actually just moved here, so I don’t have a place to go yet. I’m an exchange student from the Southern Water Tribe. Tenzin and Pema are my host family.”

Asami trailed behind her through the winding pathway up to the front door. Then, a spark of recollection hit her and she said, “Wait, Tenzin like Councilman Tenzin? Wow, I’m more lost than I thought. This is nowhere near the neighborhood I wanted to be in,” she mused.

Korra grinned and then bent over to scoop Naga up into her arms, holding her around the chest so that her legs stuck out in every direction. She huffed in exertion and then said, slightly strained, “Yep, that’s the guy! My dad is the leader of the Southern Water Tribe so he and Tenzin go way back.” 

Asami darted in front of her to open the door and Korra waddled inside, trying to keep any part of the mud-covered Naga from touching anything in the house. Asami was more than slightly impressed at how strong Korra had to be to lift up her monster dog. The impressment turned into amazement as Korra started up the stairs.

“Wow, you’re strong, “ Asami mentally slapped her forehead. Why in the world did she say that out loud? And to the daughter of the leader of a country? She hadn’t spoken this many words to anyone who wasn’t a Future Industries employee or a teacher in a long time; her verbal filter must just be a little rusty. 

She followed Korra up the stairs, sticking close behind her in case Naga’s weight made her tip backwards (though she had no idea how she planned to catch both of them if that did happen), and into a small bathroom. Korra gave a final grunt of exertion as she heaved Naga up and over the lip of the tub and gazed triumphantly at her handiwork with her hands on her hips.

“Stay, Naga. Remember, you did this to yourself,” Korra said as she leaned over and cranked the shower knob. To Asami’s surprise, Naga simply wiggled happily under the stream of water and obeyed her owner. Korra turned to Asami with a rather proud grin on her face.

“I told you she was just excited earlier, she’s usually a pretty well-behaved dog. Being cooped up in the yard all day after growing up in the South Pole hasn’t done her much good, I don’t think.”

Asami tried to follow what Korra was telling her but she couldn’t help but smile at what an absolute mess the shorter girl was. Naga’s struggles had shoved her beanie too far down over her forehead so it almost covered her eyes and her entire front was saturated with mud. Asami walked over to the sink and grabbed a washcloth.

“Hold still, you have a ton of mud on your face.”

Korra turned red with embarrassment and squirmed as Asami tugged her beanie back into place and wiped at her face with the cloth, but she gave her a cheeky grin when she was done.

“There you go helping me out again when I’m supposed to be the one fixing you up,” Korra said, and lightly punched her arm. Then she got down on her hands and knees and started rifling through the cabinet under the sink. Naga woofed at her from the tub and Korra’s arm shot out and pointed at her, the rest of her upper half still completely inside of the cabinet, “Stay put, missy! Pretend you’re at the beach or something.”

Asami gave the dog a wary look and nudged the door shut with her toe, just in case. She wanted to tease Korra for talking to her dog like she could understand every word, but didn’t know her well enough to be sure she’d take it well, so she stayed silent. After a few moments and some shuffling noises, Korra gave a wordless exclamation of victory and crawled out with a battered first aid kit in her hands.

“I knew it was in there somewhere! Ok, maybe just run your hands under some water first and try to get the dirt and dried blood off of them, yeah?”

Asami obliged and when the water hit her battered palms she hissed in pain.

“Ouch. I think the last time I scraped up my hands like this was when I was little and learning how to ride my bike.”

When she looked over her shoulder at where Korra had the contents of the first aid kit spread out over the shower mat. She was gazing up at Asami with a slightly pained, guilty expression.

Asami turned off the water and unceremoniously dropped down onto the floor to face her. “Korra, it’s fine. Believe me, I can handle a hell of a lot more than a little scrape. Thick skin, remember?” She leaned back against the sink and Korra nodded, still looking guilty, then scooted forward to take Asami’s hands in hers. 

Korra peered closely at Asami’s wounds and face scrunched into a concentrated scowl. “I think there are still some sidewalk rocks in here. You want me to have a go at them with some tweezers?”

Not that she would ever admit it, but Asami really liked the feeling of Korra holding her hands. She also didn’t mind Korra being so close to her that their knees were touching and her light breaths tickled her hands.

“Asami?” 

At the sound of her name, Asami jumped and sheepishly looked away, having been caught staring.

“Uh, what?”

Korra smirked at her like she knew some secret Asami didn’t and waved a pair of tweezers under Asami’s nose. Asami blushed even harder and nodded her permission.

Tweezers digging rocks out of soft, achy palms hurt more than she thought it would. It took her teeth dug deep into her lip and a battery of clenched muscles to keep her from yanking her hand away from Korra’s grasp. 

Korra peered up at her with her striking blue eyes and patted her leg in sympathy before returning to her task and Asami’s heart lurched in her chest and honestly, what was going on with her? She could see down the loose neck of Korra’s tank top and her eyes drank in dark skin and surprisingly sculpted muscles covered by a ragged sports bra that had undeniably been through more than a few adventures- and it was getting a little hard for Asami to breathe. Though maybe it was just due to the pounding of the shower and the smell of Naga’s wet fur. Yeah, she was going to go with that.

In an effort to get some air back into her lungs and get her head out of the forbidden places it was circling, Asami blurted out the first conversation topic that popped into her head.

“So have you started classes yet? Which –ouch- school do you go to?” She tried to quell the little spark of hope in her chest. There were several high schools in and around Republic City, the chances that Korra went to hers were-

“Nope, tomorrow is actually going to be my first day. I’m going to be a junior at Republic High. You?”

The spark burst into a cheery little fire and Asami laughed a little at the happiness that suddenly warmed her from the inside out. Or maybe that was the shower, too. Who knows.

“That’s great, I’m a senior at Republic High. If you want, I can help you get to your classes if you meet me tomorrow morning before school starts?”

“That’d be wicked! I’m not too nervous or anything but it’s nice to have made a friend already.” Korra finished with the tweezers and tossed them up into the sink before reaching back and switching off the shower. Naga huffed happily and rolled onto her back, content to nap in the tub now that her ordeal was over. 

For her part, Asami tried to ignore how her little campfire heart had turned into a miniature inferno when Korra had called her a friend. It’d been a long time since she’d had that word applied to her. That must be why she was reacting so strongly to Korra. She’d been alone for a long time, and the prospect of actually having someone to talk to and laugh with was startling.

She was rolling up the sleeves on her leather jacket so that Korra could bandage up her handiwork when she saw Korra’s eyes dart to the Future Industries patch on her shoulder and then quickly away, like she was hoping Asami hadn’t seen. Asami stilled and eyed Korra warily.

“You know who I am, don’t you?”

Again with the hand on the back of the neck thing, this girl didn’t bother to hide her emotions at all. Korra had the grace to look a little ashamed as she scrubbed at her neck and tugged her beanie lower over her forehead.

“I mean yeah, I know you’re Asami Sato, but it’s kind of a long story. I dunno, it doesn't really matter to me, and you just seemed really cool and I didn’t want that to change anything.” She glanced up at Asami from under her eyelashes like she was afraid of being yelled at.

Asami sat back and crossed her arms, ready to hear her out. “Give me the short version.”

Korra sighed but nodded, “Alright, let me wrap up your hands while I talk though, ok?” Asami let Korra take her hands back but didn’t say anything else. In a way, she kind of appreciated Korra treating her like just anyone off of the street, but the fact that she had known Asami was the daughter of the most powerful industrial tycoon in the nation and didn’t say anything made her wary for a reason she couldn’t quite grasp.

Korra’s fingers were surprisingly nimble as they wrapped the bandages around Asami’s palms. She liked the feeling of Korra’s meticulous attentions and the way she held tight to Asami’s wrist with one hand, steadying her, and wrapped with the other. She liked the feeling of someone taking care of her. Her sudden mistrust of Korra was already thawing before she even started to explain herself.

“So, earlier, I told you I was the daughter of the leader of the Southern Water Tribe, and that I’m staying with councilman Tenzin. Dad’s been trying to shape me as a diplomat-in-training for a few years now. Says that between my family and my family’s connections, I’m in a unique position that's perfect for ambassador affairs,” She huffed a breath out and blew her bangs out of her eyes, then leaned in close to tie off the bandage on Asami’s left hand. 

“Anyway, Tenzin’s really big on that too; training me in the ways of politics. They’re both so certain that I could make a difference in the world that they're hellbent on turning me into a good diplomat.”

“You don’t get a choice about any of this?” Asami asked, incredulous.

Korra sighed softly and shrugged, “I’ve always been happy to make my family happy and proud. If they think I can do this, then I’m willing to try. I do think the world needs a mouthpiece that can help keep a peaceful balance between nations, but it’s kind of a big job and I'm just one person. I’m not sure why they think I’m going to be able to make any sort of difference, or even if this is the right way for me to go about it…” Korra trailed off and sent a wistful glance off down where the hallway would lead if the bathroom door weren’t closed. 

Asami tried to imagine what Korra was thinking about and what she was looking at, but her interest was also piqued.

“So, what does all of this have to do with me?”

“Patience, Asami, I was getting to that,” Korra grinned at her. Her bangs fell down over her eyes again and Asami reached forward to brush them away, without even thinking about it. Korra’s eyebrows shot up but then she relaxed into Asami’s touch and kept talking.

“I’ve only been in Republic City for about a week, but Tenzin has been grilling me nonstop on all the important and influential people here. He’s having me learn names, family members, their political connections, job statuses, on and on and on. It’s insane. So… yeah. That’s how I recognized you.”

“That's me, daughter of Hiroshi Sato.”

Korra tied off the last bandage and shook her head, “Not just a daughter. Tenzin told me to pay special attention to you. Said you were the brightest innovators he’d met in a long time and that he was excited to see what you’re going to do with Future Industries in a few years.”

Asami couldn’t help but flush at the praise. She’d met Tenzin a few times at galas and maybe even one of her dad's business meeting once upon a time. She had no idea the man thought anything special about her.

“That… was really nice of him to say,” she said slowly. Korra climbed to her feet and offered her a hand up.

“Yeah, Tenzin’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. He actually gives me hope that not everyone in politics is a sleazy, selfish bastard. More importantly, am I off the hook for being creepy?”

Asami laughed and accepted her help up. “Yes, I suppose. But, be honest with me, do you actually like politics?”

Personally, Asami didn’t care for them. She thought most of the politicians were selfish and unflinching in a field where compromise and caring should have been valued over everything else. These people were supposed to lead the nations and help their people. Their main goal should be to foster peace and, like Korra had said, balance. But, her idea of the job description was apparently pretty far from what a lot of politicians thought it was. Republic City in particular had some pretty slimy figures.

Korra didn’t answer for a long moment, instead choosing to towel off a sleepy Naga. When she finally did speak, it was after she opened the bathroom door and headed down the hall, gesturing for Asami to follow.

“Let me show you something.”


	2. Korra Shows Off a Little

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra tries to explain something to Asami and Naga continues to do whatever she wants.

Korra definitely recognized Asami Sato. She was softer around the edges in person, somehow, compared to the picture Tenzin showed her, though. She had a different aura about her that Korra hadn’t expected, either. So far she didn’t seem to be aloof or arrogant about her father’s status or her budding engineering skills. Instead, she seemed like she was trying to hold herself back from being too eager around Korra. It was as if she was craving any sort of positive attention available, but wary of Korra in the same breath.

Korra suspected this contradicting display had something to do with the way Asami’s face had shut down earlier when she mentioned her high school, and she made a mental note to keep an eye out between classes tomorrow for more clues. But, for now, she simply looked behind her down the hallway to make sure Asami was following, and then pushed open the door to her room.

Tenzin and Pema had graciously moved their son Meelo into their his little brother’s room so that Korra could have her own space, a generosity that immediately made her fall in love with her host family. It wasn’t a big area, but the hardwood floors creaked happily when Korra padded across them and the walls were painted a deep blue that reminded her simultaneously of the sky and home.

“Welcome to my place! If it smells a little funky it’s because Tenzin’s son lived in here until like a week ago.”

Asami laughed and turned slowly around in the center of the room, taking in Korra’s space with an attention that made Korra suddenly self-conscious. She didn’t have many things of her own, she tended to travel light, so the only notable furnishings were a few of her favorite band posters, a photo of her parents, and Naga’s dog bed that never got used because her dog was a spoiled brat and thought Korra’s bed was much more suited to her tastes. Before Korra could even finish her thought, Naga read her mind and jumped onto her nicely made bed (Pema ran a tight ship).

“You’ve got to be shitting me Naga, you’re still wet! You’re getting my bed all gross,” Korra huffed as she tried to shove the dog onto the floor, but even when she put her back into it, she couldn’t budge her. Asami interrupted by asking, “So, how exactly does your admittedly cozy room answer my question about politics?”

Korra sighed and abandoned her quest. She ruffled Naga’s ears affectionately and the dog licked her hand in response, then she knelt down and started rummaging around under her bed. She sensed Asami drawing closer, curious, just as managed to extract her prize from its shadowy hiding spot.

“Aha!” Korra held up her guitar case in triumph and then sat down with her back against the bed and her legs crossed, cradling the case in her lap.

A bemused looking Asami sat down next to her, “Ok, I’m going to admit that I’m very confused now.”

Korra tried to blow her bangs out of her eyes and got to work undoing the case and reverently lifting her scuffed acoustic guitar into her lap. It looked worn out and had a few teeth marks from when she forgot to put it away when Naga was a puppy, but it had some of her favorite stickers plastered on it (her family’s tribe crest being one of them) and Korra had treasured it for years.

To her delight, Asami leaned in close, eyeing the sleek wood panels and the construction of the neck. Korra could almost see her supposed genius brain trying to figure out how the pieces fit together. She looked up at Korra and arched an eyebrow, waiting for her explanation.

“Ok, lemme see if I can explain this so that it makes sense. I’m being groomed to be this powerful diplomat, and it’s all smooth talking and surface impressions, and being polite to the right people. It’s the opposite of how I want to do things. I want to tackle issues headfirst, you know? None of the red tape, government rules bullshit. It takes forever to help people when you have to navigate through all that. Politics are so frustrating sometimes!” Korra scowled, then looked down at the guitar in her hands.

“Music… music is different. When I play I can say whatever I want to. Music makes people feel things; lyrics change lives. I know they do. Music is powerful and hard hitting and… I dunno. I wish I could change the world with this,” she caressed her guitar, “instead of that,” she said, waving an hand in the general direction of her desk which was covered in textbooks and the portfolios Tenzin had put together for her.

Asami was gazing at her, and wow her eyes were super green. Like, the green that Korra saw on TV commercials and scoffed at for being photoshopped. She looked down at her hands, suddenly nervous about what the other girl thought about her answer. She was, after all, the daughter of one of Republic City’s most influential businessman. Asami would’ve been raised in the world of galas and meetings. Maybe Korra had offended her or-

“Will you play something?”

She was looking at Korra with interest so bright and hopeful that it made Korra flush. She was suddenly nervous and her fingers skittered over the strings that she’d stroked thousands of times over the years. Then she took in a quiet breath and settled the guitar in the crook of her arm.

She laughed softly at herself as her fingers automatically moved to the song she played almost every night in front of the fire with her parents before bed. She hadn’t played it for them in almost two weeks and an unsuspected homesickness thudded painfully under her ribcage. Korra tried to shake it off as best she could.

“No judging, all right? This is my mom’s favorite.”

“I would never,” Asami replied, her eyes widening a little as if she couldn’t believe Korra had even accused her of something like that. Korra shot her a small smile to let her know she was just teasing and then started in on the song,

“ _I took my love and I took it down_

_I climbed a mountain and I turned around_

_And I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills_

_Till the landslide brought me down_

_Oh mirror in the sky, what is love?_

_Can the child in my heart rise above?_

_Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?_

_Can I handle the seasons of my life?_ ”

Korra wasn’t shy about playing in front of people, but today was the closest she’d come to outright revealing her musical aspirations to anyone. Asami had teased out a confession that nobody but Naga had ever heard after only knowing Korra for a few hours, and Korra wasn’t sure how to feel about it. She was glad she’d decided to play a cover instead of one of her originals. She didn’t need to bare her anymore of her soul than she already had to this stranger who didn’t feel like a stranger at all.

Korra knew it wasn’t exactly the life-changing anthem she’d been talking about, but the song was so familiar that it felt like slipping on an old, well-loved piece of clothing. She didn’t sing the whole song, but she finished playing it anyway so she could concentrate on Asami’s reaction.

She wasn’t disappointed. Asami’s mouth had dropped open the tiniest bit and her pupils were so wide that when Korra looked into them, she felt a sense of vertigo fluttering behind her eyes. When Korra’s fingers had teased out the last chord and the walls absorbed the last lingering echoes, Asami finally broke her gaze from Korra’s.

“Wow, Korra,” Asami finally murmured. She leaned back so her head was propped on Korra’s bed and looked lazily up at the ceiling. “You’ve really got something there.”

Korra shivered with happiness and was about to reply when Naga poked her snout over the side of the bed and promptly licked a wet stripe up the side of Asami’s head. She yelped and jerked to her left to try and avoid another slobbery attack, but her momentum overcame her balance and she tipped into Korra’s lap. Korra easily let her guitar fall onto her legs and caught her by the shoulders. Then she burst into laughter at the look on Asami’s face. Her ears were bright red with embarrassment and Naga had licked a lock her pristine black hair into a slick spike across her forehead.

“I think she likes you.”

“Yeah, that or she’s trying to kill and eat me,” Asami grumbled, but Korra could tell she wasn’t really mad. Proving her correct, Asami pushed up onto her knees and blew in Naga’s face, causing her to release a raucous sneeze.

Korra laughed, “Hah, how did you know that makes her sneeze?”

Asami stuck her tongue out at Korra and scratched behind Naga’s ear, earning her another attempted lick that Asami nearly bent over backwards to avoid.

“Just a lucky guess, I’ve never actually had a pet before. Dad’s not a fan.”

Korra was astounded, “What! That’s crazy! How-”

A buzzing in her back pocket interrupted her question. She scrambled to her feet so she could fish out her phone and answer it.

“Hello?”

Pema’s voice filtered over her shitty phone speaker and Korra tried to make out what she was saying over the din of her children shouting something on her end and Asami trying to rub Naga’s belly and avoid her flailing paws on Korra’s. Pema had to repeat herself a few times but Korra finally got the gist of it and ended the call with a, “We’ll be there in like five minutes, I promise!”

Asami cocked her head, silently asking Korra who was on the phone. Korra grabbed Naga’s leash off the floor and hooked it firmly into place on her collar. She gave it a tug to make sure it was secure and said, “That was Pema, I was supposed to meet her at the park like 45 minutes ago. That’s where we were heading when Naga escaped. I’m supposed to watch the kids while she does some errands down the street. It kinda slipped my mind, and she’s getting a little impatient so we better go.”

Asami slowly stood up and shuffled awkwardly in place. “Wait, you want me to go with you?”

Korra succeeded in yanking Naga, who left a giant damp circle on her comforter, off of the bed and lifted an eyebrow, “Duh, I told you Tenzin can give you a ride home later! He’s off work at 5 so he should be home soonish. Until then you can play with me and the kids. They’re insane, you’re going to love them.”

Korra couldn’t help but notice the joy that filtered across Asami’s face as she realized Korra actually wanted to spend more time with her. Sheesh, Korra was really going to have to figure out what, or who, had squashed Asami’s self-confidence so much that she even questioned if her company was wanted or not. But, that would come later. Right now, they had a park to get to. 

“Mush!” She yelled to Naga, who was already halfway to the door and didn’t need any encouragement whatsoever. Korra managed to snag Asami’s sleeve as she was towed past and she happily dragged the taller girl along with her down the stairs and out onto the sidewalk. Korra was determined to turn her new friend’s previously rough day into something at least a little more enjoyable, and so far it seemed like she was doing pretty well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the slow update; my second semester of uni is in full swing and my double majors + spring volleyball season are kicking my butt!
> 
> I am an enormous cheeseball for having Korra sing Landslide, I know, but I just couldn't resist. It was a bit of a loving gesture back to my days in the Brittana fandom. Those two girls changed my life and now Korra and Asami are picking up the baton. I'm so lucky to have them all! 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys liked Korra's little character twist. I just can't resist the idea of her rocking out, she's got the perfect personality for it.
> 
> Also, can someone help me get last chapter's notes off this chapter? I'm bad at computers!


	3. Children Really Freak Asami Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra and Asami go to the park and Asami gets a lesson in babysitting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so this chapter ended up not taking me where I was planning on heading, but rest assured there's going to be a nice family dinner in the next one. After that maybe we can get down to some backstory for Asami. But for now, enjoy some airkid antics. I love those little buggers. 
> 
> (Again, please forgive any typos, I really wanted to pound out this chapter and get posted for you guys!)

The day seemed much warmer and brighter than it had a few hours ago. Golden sunlight filtered through the branches that arched over the streets of Korra’s sleepy suburb. Sunspots danced across Korra’s shoulders as they jogged towards the park and Asami felt an irrational urge to pull out her phone and snap a picture to try and capture the essence of what she was feeling.

Deep down, she knew it was joy, but it was such an unexpected warmth that bloomed up inside of her that she almost didn’t want to quantify it in any concrete terms.

“Keep up, slowpoke! Your legs are like, a mile longer than mine, so you must just be out of shape!”

Korra tossed a grin back at her. Asami was in perfectly good, and visible, shape so she knew that Korra was teasing her, again. Her competitive spirit spiked and she took off in an unexpected, all out sprint. Korra whooped and started to chase her down. Naga barked and dragged her owner up alongside Asami even quicker than Korra could have caught up herself. 

“Hey, no fair! You have help!” Asami complained in-between sharp huffs of breath. A stuck out tongue was her only response. The two girls rounded the street corner and a small park nestled in a grove of trees came into view. It wasn’t very big, and the play structures were made of wood and chipped paint, but everything was connected with rather unsafe looking wooden bridges and swinging ropes that gave the park the feeling of a miniature city high above the ground. 

A woman with a tiny baby on her lap was reclining on a bench. She looked up as Asami and Korra barreled into the clearing, still shouting trash talk at each other. Korra skidded to a stop in front of the woman and gave her a sheepish smile and a small bow of apology.

“Pema, I’m so sorry I’m late! It’s kind of a long story, but Naga escaped and knocked over Asami here and I had to fix her up. It took a little longer than I thought,” she gestured to Asami with one hand and looped Naga’s leash through the leg of the bench with the other.

Pema’s eyes swept up and down Korra’s damp and still incredibly muddy tanktop and then looked over at Asami trying to put the strange puzzle pieces together. Then, recognizing her, Pema shifted the baby into her arms and stood up.

“Oh! Asami! I haven’t seen you since Raiko’s ball back in February. I hope you and your father have been doing well.”

Asami nodded and gave her a friendly smile. Pema handed the baby to Korra, who immediately started pulling a series of grotesquely funny faces, to his delight. His mother gently inspected Asami’s bandaged hands.

“The first aid kit’s under the sink, did you find it alright, Korra? And did you wash them out first and put some antiseptic cream on them?”

Korra puffed out her chest proudly, “Yep! I took care of everything,” then she frowned, “Oh wait, except the antiseptic stuff, shoot, I forgot about that.”

Asami snickered at the crestfallen look on her face and patted her on the shoulder. “It’s fine, Korra. I washed them out, they’ll be ok.”

“Don’t worry, I can put some on for you after dinner. Speaking of which, I really have to run and buy some groceries.”

Asami felt another flutter of warmth at Pema’s motherly instincts and caring comment.

“You really don’t have to feed me, Pema. I just need directions home and-”

“Nonsense! I’ll be back in twenty minutes, then we’ll cook up some dinner and Tenzin can drive you home.” Korra shot Asami an ‘I told you so’ face.

“You kids have fun now!” With that, Pema scooped her kid, Rohan was his name if Asami was remembering correctly, out of Korra’s arms and slid him easily into the baby carrier she was wearing on her back. She waved and then bustled off down the street, pulling a shopping list out of the back pocket of her jeans on the way.

“Speaking of kids, plural, where are the other ones anyway?” Korra asked, looking around. She walked towards the playground and started to peer around a climbing wall when a flurry of motion erupted from a large tube slide just to Korra’s right. 

“Aaaagh!” Korra yelled in surprise as three smallish humans tackled her to the ground. Korra roared with fake anger as the kids swarmed over her, giggling at their sucessful sneak attack.

“You evil little beasts, you’ve mortally wounded me!” She rolled around in fake distress and wrapped her arms around the two younger kids, smooshing them to her chest and making them squeal.

“I thought you were going to talk with Mom for another ten years! We were waiting in there for ages!” The oldest girl said, laughing at her siblings’ antics. She switched teams and helped Korra tickle her siblings’ ribs.

“Yeah, and Meelo kept farting! I thought we were gonna suffocate!” The smaller girl squirmed in Korra’s grasp and tried to escape, shoving her brother’s face in the process. He squealed and tried to wrap his little fingers around her hair bun.

“Alright, alright, be nice now,” Korra admonished. She sat up and set them back on their feet. “I was just telling your mom about my new friend, that’s all.”

At this, the kids seemed to notice Asami for the first time. All three of them turned to stare at her and Asami felt her face heat up. She shuffled awkwardly in place and tried to think of something to say. Thankfully, Korra noticed her unease and jumped in.

“This is Asami, she’s really smart and really nice and she didn’t even get mad when Naga flattened her.” Meelo’s eyes widened in awe. “Asami, this is Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo,” Korra said and pointed to each one in turn.

“Uh… hi,” Asami said and gave them a small wave. Meelo scrambled over to her and grabbed a fistful of her jacket hem.

“Naga ran you over and you’re alive? Wow, you must be a tough lady. A tough, pretty lady,” The little boy said with an incredibly suave eyebrow waggle for someone so young. Korra grabbed him by his shirt collar and tugged him away from her. 

Asami felt some of her discomfort fade as he glowered at Korra, who flicked his stubbly head gently in response. She smiled, if still somewhat uncertainly and replied, “Yep, it takes more than a casual trampling to stop me.”

Jinora wandered over to say hi to Naga and Korra lifted Meelo up onto one of the platforms where he immediately started hooting like a monkey. He climbed higher up the wooden tower and then swung over to a tire swing suspended high above the ground. After a moment of hesitation and Ikki’s expectant look, Asami hooked her hands under the tiny girl’s armpits and lifted her up after her brother. Korra grinned at her like a proud parent and Asami flushed.

“See? Kids are easy.”

Asami shrugged, “I’ve never spent much time around children before. I don’t really have any experience.”

Korra’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief. “Seriously? No pets, no kids? You’ve been sheltered.” She hesitated for a second and then got a devious glint in her eye. “I can show you the woooorld!” 

“Korra NO-”

“Shining shimmering splendiiiiiiiiiiiid!”

“Oh god, please sto-”

Korra interrupted and waved her hand in an overdramatic arc across the park. “TELL ME PRINCESS-”

“Nooooo!” Asami shrieked in embarrassment. She scrabbled up the platform scaffolding to try and escape but Korra just followed her up, as agile as a monkey, serenading her at the top of her lungs.

Jinora doubled over in fits of laughter on the ground as Naga took up the tune with a earsplitting, warbling howl of her own. At that, Korra gleefully pumped her fist into the air. “Yes girl! Sing it with me now! I can open your EYEEES!”

Asami curled up on the top platform in defeat. She allowed Korra to haul herself up next to her and half croon, half shout the rest of the lyrics at her, with Naga and the kids’ accompaniment. Only when the song finally ended and Korra had laughed herself into a wheezing pile of limbs next to her did Asami feel safe enough to peek her head out from under her arms.

“God, is it finally over?”

“That was the best thing that’s ever happened to you, don’t try to deny it,” Korra panted. Asami protested weakly, but if she was being honest with herself, this afternoon was probably already one of the happiest memories she’d ever made. 

Even when she was playfully shouting Disney tunes, Korra’s voice had a rich, husky tone that raised goose bumps along Asami’s forearms and across her shoulders, just like it had back in Korra’s room. Korra’s voice made her feel lightheaded and incredibly grounded all at the same time. It was an amazing feeling, and if she was still being honest, she kind of wanted to close her eyes and ask Korra to sing her another song. Thankfully, before she embarrassed herself by actually spilling any of that to Korra, Ikki poked her head up over their platform and saved her.

“Hot lava monster time?” She chirped hopefully. Korra put her hand on her chin and pretended to think it over for a few moments before nodding sagely, “Hmmm, yep it is definitely just about hot lava monster time.”

Korra quickly made her way down the tower and dropped cleanly onto the ground. Asami warily followed her. When the kids assembled in front of Korra she clapped her hands together.

“Alright, there’s a new rule in place today. The tree is no longer safe.”

“What!” Jinora complained, “The tree is always safe, what are you talking about?” She had been edging her way towards a large oak tree behind the swing set and was unhappy about her escape plan being ruined.

“Um, sorry to interrupt, but I don’t know any of the old rules?” Asami said. Korra happily prepared to give her the lowdown. She was completely at home playing games with Pema’s children. Korra carried herself with an easy sling that left Asami feeling rather envious. She never felt comfortable around other people. Korra, on the other hand, seemed like she was made to engage others.

“So, I’m the lava monster, and the ground is lava. I can’t leave the ground, but the only place that the kids are completely safe-”

“Is my tree,” Jinora finished, still looking grumpy about Korra’s mysterious rule change.

“Not anymore!” Korra said cheekily. “The tree is too easy for you guys to get to. It’s always in the same spot. No, today your safe zone is going to be a little more… mobile.”

A feeling of dread crept up Asami’s spine. She couldn’t possibly mean- 

“The only way you guys are safe is if you’re touching Asami!”

Oh god.

“The game starts in 5…4…3…”

As Korra’s countdown dwindled, the kids started to assess their options. Their eyes first flew to the relative safety of the playground slides and platforms, then to Korra who was standing between them and that safety, and then to Asami who was doing her best to shrink into the woodchips and disappear.

“2…1… RAAAWRRRR!”

Everyone screamed, Asami included. Korra sprinted towards them with her hands in the air, doing her best monster impression. Asami took off, ignoring the kids’ pleas for her to save them.

As the afternoon wore on, the sun slowly sank down into the welcoming branches of the trees. The park was filled with glee-filled shouts and the echoes of Korra’s best monster impression, and as Asami did her best to outmaneuver a horde of panicking small children and felt a warm breeze dust across her cheekbones, she finally had to admit that she was undeniably, unequivocally, absolutely content.


	4. Asami Cries and Korra Does Her Best

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner with Korra's host family and a little bathroom bonding.

Asami precariously balanced a set of plates and silverware as she tried to avoid tripping over Meelo and Ikki, who were literally sprinting in circles around the dining room table. She had to dart in and out of the room at strategically planned moments in order to put the cutlery down without being clipped by the tornado children. Asami was in the process of drafting a mental equation countering in their speeds and hers in order to perfectly time her table setting dance, but she kept getting distracted 

“Comin’ in hot!” Meelo screeched as he swung around the table leg on what must’ve been his 42nd lap. Unfortunately, he screwed up Asami’s algorithm as he put on an extra burst of speed that turned out to be too much for his sock-clad feet. She managed to juggle the silverware into her other hand and snag the back of his shirt as his feet flew out from underneath him.

Asami barely had time to breath a sigh of relief before Ikki swooped by them, cackling a laugh and sticking her tongue out at Meelo. He squirmed in Asami’s grasp, eager to get back in the race. 

“How about you take off your socks first, Meelo?” Asami asked, trying for her best grown up voice, but she only managed to sound like the awkward, clueless around children, 17 year old that she was. She was glad that Korra was helping Pema finish up dinner in the kitchen instead of watching her trying to wrangle her host siblings.  
Meelo shucked off his socks and grinned at her before squirming again, and Asami obliged, setting him upright. She quickly dumped the plates in their proper places and then darted out of the way as both kids took off again. 

She honestly couldn’t fathom how they still had energy after playing hot lava monster for almost an hour, until the sun went down and a chill swept over the park. Her own muscles were fatigued; she hadn’t had to run for her life before, tonight had been a first, and it clearly took a toll on her physical state.

Asami wandered back towards the kitchen and leaned on the doorframe, content to take a break before having to face the dining room scene again. Korra was chopping vegetables for a salad and Pema was attempting to feed Rohan and make stir-fry at the same time. Jinora was sitting on one of the countertops, trying to fill out a worksheet for school. The three of them fumbled around each other in a sloppy chaos that was punctuated with good-natured apologies and laughter.

The kitchen was so bright and messy and full of good smells and happy people that a strange nostalgia started to seep into Asami’s good mood. The kitchen at her house was just cold granite countertops and faceless house staff. Asami didn’t know if she’d ever seen her dad cook anything, or if the shadowy memories of her mom making breakfast on the weekends were something she just wished up.

There was a tiny clock radio screwed to the underside of one of the cupboards and both Korra and Pema were singing along to it. It was some Top 40 pop song that Asami didn’t really know, but Korra’s voice was strong and unapologetically exuberant as she danced around Rohan’s chair, trying to make him smile.

The lyrics burst out of Korra with such a howling joy that Asami smiled despite herself. She wasn’t lying earlier when she said Korra had something special. It wasn’t just her voice, though that was pretty damned good, it was the attitude with which she used it. It made something start to rise up inside of her that made her heart pound harder and blood sing a little stronger underneath her skin. 

Asami had an irrational urge to grab Korra and tuck her head up under her chin so she could press her ear to the hollow above her collarbones. Asami wanted to feel the vibrations travel up from her lungs, through her vocal cords and then out into the world. She felt a desperate desire to understand the science behind what was making her react so viscerally. She wanted to know the math behind Korra’s voice; how tone and pitch and the curve of her vocal cords all collaborated into something that sounded like… this.

A shuddery sigh blustered out of Asami and she tried to shake the fog from her head. Was it really going to be this hard for her to act normal and interact with people like an actual human being for once? She was just about to step into the kitchen and grab the rest of the plates when the front door swung open.

“Daddy!”

Tenzin breezed into the house, simultaneously dropping his bag and sweeping up his two middle children into his arms in one fluid, well-practiced motion. Jinora hopped off the counter in the kitchen behind Asami and joined her siblings. Korra followed her, giving Asami a brief friendly touch on the shoulder when she squeezed past her in the doorway. Without getting up from the rug she was snoozing on in the corner of the room, Naga welcomed Tenzin with a single booming bark that everyone else ignored, but made Asami jump.

Tenzin released his children enough to give Korra a one armed squeeze. “Did you all have a good day- Oh! Asami, hello, what brings you here? Is your father alright?”

Unlike his wife, Tenzin recognized her immediately, and his concern for her dad and the way he hugged his children and Korra to him made a small ache squirm in her chest. This family had exposed her to more warmth and caring in one evening than she’d felt in a long, long time, and realizing that made Asami feel inconsequential, and actually sort of embarrassed, if she really thought about it. Was she not worthy of this in her everyday life? Was something wrong with her?

She managed to shake off her self-deprecating thoughts in time to answer Tenzin, “Uh, yeah, Dad’s fine. I got kind of lost on my way home from school, actually, and Korra was nice enough to help me out.”

Korra scoffed and started back into the kitchen, “She’s lying; all of this is Naga’s fault. I’ll tell you over dinner, it’s actually a halfway decent story.” She flashed a wink at Asami and she felt her face warm up.

“Well then, Asami, welcome to our home. I’m glad we could have you over.” Asami nodded politely in thanks, but couldn’t help the smile that broke over her face.

With Tenzin’s help, the table was finally set, dinner completed, and Meelo and Ikki wrangled into their seats. Pema settled Rohan into a high chair where he was content to burble and knock cheerios off his tray into Naga’s gaping mouth.

Dinner was about as loud as Asami expected it to be. Meelo and Ikki both tried to shout out the details of their day to their dad at the same time, Korra roared with laughter when Naga jumped for a falling cheerio and accidentally smashed her humongous head into the table leg, and Jinora and Pema calmly discussed something that Asami couldn’t quite catch over the other clamor.

In time, Korra told the story of how she met Asami, complete with sweeping hand gestures and a few embellishments. She nudged Asami into adding a detail every so often, but mostly she just sat back and enjoyed the wave of noise sweeping over her. God, she loved this. Asami was in love with this. She loved the easy affection of this family; how Tenzin kissed Pema on the cheek and complimented her cooking, and how Jinora snapped at Ikki when she nearly turned over her milk glass, but passed her an extra sweet roll when Pema wasn’t looking. She loved the way Korra’s arm knocked against hers when her enthusiasm brimmed over and her movements got a little too animated, and the way Naga laid her head across Asami’s feet halfway through the meal.

Suddenly, like a tidal wave, Asami felt tears prick insistently at the back of her eyes. Bewildered, she sucked in a shaky breath and extracted her feet from their cozy position under Naga.

“I just have to use the bathroom, I’ll be right back,” she choked out when Korra shot her a questioning look. She saw Korra’s eyebrows pull together, but the other girl nodded and pointed her in the right direction.

Asami ducked down a couple of hallways before she found the bathroom. She flipped on the light but didn’t bother closing the door. She just leaned back against the counter and tried to pluck her escaping emotions from the air and gather them back safely inside of her. She didn’t even know why she was having an honest-to-god breakdown right now. Well, actually, that was a lie.

Her dad worked late every single night of the week, and when she did see him, he was cold and distant. He still couldn’t bear to look her in the eye for more than a few seconds, even after all these years. What happened wasn’t Asami’s fault, but she echoed her mother in ways she was unable to comprehend. Instead of facing her, loving her, Hiroshi set his daughter carefully at arm’s length and chose to pound out his pain against along lengths of sheet metal and immaculate blueprints.

The only time he was ever really relaxed around her was when he taught her how to make things. He could lose himself so completely in a project that Asami’s presence didn’t burn him as fully as it did back at home, and so Asami followed him around in the factory for as long as he’d let her. She’d picked up his engineering skills quickly, and began to pitch him her own innovations, as she grew older. It was an imperfect system, one that often left young Asami aching for affection, but one they both grew used to. 

Recently, however, Hiroshi withdrew even further, not allowing Asami to accompany him to the factory after school anymore, saying he was working on some important projects, one she wasn’t allowed to participate in. The rejection stung her in ways she did not anticipate. Ways that led to her crying in the bathroom of a family she’d mostly just met. The warmth of Korra’s host family stung her in the same way that sticking numb limbs in hot water stung; so used to being frozen that the unexpected heat actually hurt.

\- - - - - - - - - 

Asami hadn’t been gone for that long, but Korra was concerned. Her eyes were shiny when she’d stood up, and Korra thought she might’ve seen her hands shaking. Either way, something had obviously unsettled her, so Korra shoveled in one more bite of stir-fry and excused herself from the table.

“I’m going to go check on Asami, make sure she found the bathroom okay,” she mumbled, with her mouth still full, and set off down the hall when Pema nodded.

She found Asami in the bathroom, sitting on the countertop taking deep, steadying breaths. The tiny bathroom window was open and a warm breeze teased Asami’s hair. Korra wanted to stand still for a few moments and just absorb how the soft light of the bathroom shown off Asami’s sharp cheekbones and the way the breeze blowing towards her smelled like grass and the night sky, but Asami was obviously crying, so she knocked gently on the door frame instead.

“Hey. Doing alright?” Stupid question, Korra. Obviously someone who was doing okay would not be hastily wiping tears off her cheeks and trying to flash a wobbly smile.

Korra padded through the doorway and leaned up against the counter next to Asami. She didn’t say anything, trying to give her space if she wanted to talk, or to just be there with her if she didn’t.

Asami dropped her smile when she saw she wasn’t fooling Korra. She shifted awkwardly and then moved closer so their shoulders’ touched, needing reassurance. Korra leaned into her, trying to be as warm and solid as possible. She wasn’t one hundred percent sure what was bothering Asami, but she had an idea. Korra noticed the way she’d been gazing into the kitchen at them earlier. Asami was lonely, that much was certain.

Asami leaned back into Korra, obviously uncomfortable but not willing to pretend anymore. She scrubbed the back of her hand across her eyes.

“My mom died when I was six. I miss her. I miss the way our family used to be, or I guess… how it could’ve been,” Asami said, her voice dropping to a whisper to hide just how much it was shaking, “I would have wanted it to be just like this,” she waved her hand towards the dining room, where lighthearted murmurs could still be heard.

Korra’s heart bottomed out into her stomach. She’d been expecting something like that, but to actually hear the rawness in Asami’s voice made Korra ache in a way she’d never felt before. She interlaced her fingers with Asami’s without a second thought.

“God, Asami… I’m sorry. I-”

“Thank you,” Asami murmured, sensing her uncertainty about how to respond and smoothing over it, like she’d done it a thousand times. She probably had, actually.

Korra shook her head, wanting to help, desperate to offer her something, “That family out there took me in without a second thought; I know they’d welcome you here anytime. I- I know you didn’t get to have that with your parents, but maybe we could try to make something new. A found family,” Korra paused and pawed at the back of her neck, unsure if she was overstepping the bonds of their admittedly new friendship. “Only if you want,” she added.

Asami began to cry again, which terrified Korra, but then she ducked her head down against Korra’s shoulder and nodded into it. It was a small nod, but it was definitely there. Korra’s skin warmed all over, and she touched her cheek against the top of Asami’s head to make sure she was ok.

No, she did not know this girl, not really. They’d only just met, after all. But Korra would be damned if she let her go, now. There was something magnetic about her; the way she walked, like her bones were made of steel, or how she refused to lower her chin; quietly defiant in the face of her own tragedies. Korra felt a familiar tug behind her bellybutton, the one that itched at her to make a difference, to help someone. She wanted to uncover who Asami was behind her sadness and unfold her to allow in some much-needed warmth.

They sat like that for a few minutes. Korra didn’t know what to say. Probably anything she did say wouldn’t make much of a difference anyway, so instead she just clasped Asami’s hand tighter and started to hum the first tune that rolled behind her lips.

“Is that One Direction? Really?” Asami hiccupped out a laugh that startled them both, which made her giggle again. Korra jabbed her lightly in the ribs with her free hand, happy to be back in territory she knew how to handle.

“Don’t hate on the boys! They’re perfect for when you’re bummed out.”

To her delight, Asami laughed again. Still a little watery, but way better than crying.

“Alright then, go ahead. Cheer me up.”

So Korra did. She sang any scrap of lyric that she could pull up, until her voice was scratchy and Asami’s tears completely dried up. It was wholly dark outside when they finally went back to the table, but Pema had left their plates for them, side by side, and they finished eating, content in each other’s presence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeeeeey guys. So, I know that I don't have a strict updating schedule like a professional writer lady, and I want you all to know that I appreciate you sticking with me anyway. Trying to juggle two majors and volleyball gets a little stressful, and I'm so happy to have people read my story that don't get impatient with me for updates. Like, as cheesy as it sounds, your comments and kudos really mean a lot to me, and I appreciate every single one of them. 
> 
> Also, Night Changes? Guys, I'm obsessed with it. Fluffy Top 40 is my muse and I'm not ashamed.
> 
> Comments/crits/whatever, hit me up here or on tumblr (same username).
> 
> P.S. They finally go to school in the next chapter! Sheesh, took them long enough, right?


	5. Korra Punches a Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami thinks about middle school and Korra gets in a fight before she even steps in the building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter today, folks!
> 
> This chapter has a little violence and some swearing, be warned, and enjoy.

Asami hated school. God, she really fucking hated school. She used to love the crack of a textbook being laid open flat, and the way her pencil sounded when it scratched out the precious end of an equation on a test, but not anymore. This place ruined it. Or more accurately, these people ruined it. Asami sighed and leaned back against the lockers, thinking that it was probably unfair to blame the building. The meandering hallways and endless rows of lockers, scuffed and dented but still standing tall like ranks of battle-seasoned soldiers, weren’t sentient. They were just there. Like Asami was just there. 

She pressed herself up tighter against the lockers, willing herself to fade backwards into them and become invisible. Slinking into the background was a daily ritual. If nobody saw her, then maybe she could hold onto that last spark of ingenuity and zeal for creation that still flickered faintly in the back of her head.

That last spark used to be an inferno that roared out of her with every breath, but this place-no, these people, had done their very best to stifle it. As Asami waited for Korra, still unmoving and (hopefully) undetectable, she thought back to the day in middle school when she first wished for invisibility.

_She grinned and traced her fingers over the indents the teacher’s pen left at the top of her paper. She’d gotten a perfect score, and it made a fierce pride bubble up into her throat._

_“How’d you do, Asami?” The boy sitting next to her asked, turning in his seat to face her._

_“Pretty good,” she said, biting her lip to hide her smile. The boy noticed anyway, and he snatched her paper away before she even registered his hand moving._

_“What the hell?! Sato didn’t even get one question wrong!” Asami was taken aback by the anger and disbelief in his voice, and the way he yelled it out to the entire class._

_Some of the other kids gathered, snatching her paper back and forth and reacting with similar irritation at her score. Asami watched their young faces twist into sneers and scowls, some of them laughing meanly. She didn’t understand why they were mad; her getting a good score had no affect on the way they did on their exams, but when she tried to explain that to them, everything just got worse._

_“If you’re such a genius, why are you even in this class?”_

_“What a damn showoff, why don’t you knock it off, Sato?”_

_“Daddy’s money pay for this grade, huh, Rich Girl?”_

_The teacher clapped his hands for order, but the damage was already done. Asami curled into herself, shell-shocked. The joyful bubbles were gone._

After that, Asami did her best to slide her tests into her backpack without anyone noticing her grade, but it became some kind of game for her peers to rip her papers away from her and jeer at her. She knew they were jealous and insecure or frustrated about their own grades but understanding that didn’t help her when they started in. They were like a pack of wild dogs that loved to cackle and nip at her until she was near tears.

Asami never submitted. She never intentionally got questions wrong in an effort to bring her scores down and stop the bullying; her pride wouldn’t let her. Instead, she kept her head down. She didn’t enter the science fair, something she’d been looking forward to for months. She stopped tinkering with scrap metal in the lunchroom and the library where people could see her. She only drew blueprints for her ideas at home in the safety of her room and she never, ever felt good after a test again. She made herself invisible.

But, alas, even that had turned against her after awhile. The other kids thought she was being a snooty rich bitch and that she thought she was too good to hang out with them. Asami wanted to tell them that she was just protecting herself, that this was all their fault to begin with, but she wasn’t about to try and explain anything to them ever again. Besides, she was used to the insults. They hardly stung at all these days.

She swiped at her phone screen again, willing Korra’s name to pop onto her screen, but it stayed mercilessly empty. Korra had texted her a half an hour ago saying she was on her way to school, but Asami had only received radio silence after that. She contemplated popping the back off her phone and playing with the wire connecters a bit to see if she could boost her reception but decided against it. Her tool kit was hidden safely in the back of her locker and, more importantly, there were people around.

Korra wouldn’t ditch her. She was better than that. Asami was already convinced that Korra was better than anyone she’d ever met. The ball of anxiety in her gut lurched, trying to tell her differently, but she pushed it away. She trusted Korra. She’d be here soon.

\- - - - - - - - 

“Thanks Tenzin!” Korra called over her shoulder as she hopped out of the car and started jogging towards the entrance to the school. She was right on time, but she was excited to see Asami, and she wanted to learn the basic layout of the school before morning classes started.

She was just making her way up the front steps, when a gravely voice scraped across the back of her shoulders.

“Don’t tell me that’s another water rat. What boat did you crawl off of?”

Korra stopped dead in her tracks, with one foot still hovering above the top step. She turned her head slowly to find the body behind the words. He was easy enough to spot. He had a grungy sweatshirt on that was frayed at the sleeves, and a square, puckered face. Korra eyed the other boy he was with. 

She’d been trained to watch the way people stood and spoke, and it sounded silly to her at the time, but it proved useful now. It was obvious that the sweatshirt boy wasn’t the ringleader; he was simply the mouth. The tall boy leaning up against the wall in a carefully arranged slouch, who was combing over Korra with a sleek intelligence in his eyes, was definitely in charge. His hair was dark and slicked sideways across his head. He looked like he should have a one of those golfing shirts tied across his shoulders.

“You even speak English, Savage?”

Sweatshirt boy spat the words this time. He was bouncing on his toes, absolutely itching to move forward. He kept glancing back towards the tall boy, though, waiting for permission. Korra felt shifty too, so she turned and walked lazily down the stairs, making sure not to appear nervous. She wasn’t nervous, but the energy boiling under her skin might make her look shaky to an outside eye if she didn’t conceal it.

“I’ve only been here two minutes and I’ve already seen at least six other kids with Water Tribe ancestry. What makes me different?” It was the first words she’d actually spoken, and the blistering authority with which she said them made the tall boy’s eyebrows pop up. She let loose a cocky smile, glad that she’d gotten a reaction out of him. She’d spent a lot of time practicing her politician voice in the mirror at home.

Sweatshirt bow scowled and leaned forward. Korra was only a few steps away from him now. His lip twisted up into an ugly sneer and he waved his hand across the gathering crowd, “I’ve known these kids my whole life. We all grew up here. This is our city, not yours.” 

“You guys own the city, huh? Weird, because I’m pretty sure it was built like a hundred years ago with the direct intent of being a cultural hub.” The boy looked back at the tall guy, unsure and unconsciously seeking reassurance. Seeing his confusion, Korra leaned forward and really got into his space, “It means everyone is welcome, dumbass.”

The crowd chuckled and a couple of kids even ‘oooohed,’ which made a patchy red flush spread over the boy’s face. Korra saw the exact moment he stopped waiting for permission, and lunged forward on his own. His meaty hand shoved Korra backwards a full step and he sputtered out, “Slut!” so forcefully that spittle hit her cheek.  


Korra always felt the ocean inside of her, ever since she was born. It was why she could never stop moving, not really. The waves rocked her from inside, like a constant lullaby (you’re safe, you exist, you were meant to be, don’t worry). But sometimes the wind blew the water into angry, jagged claws. Sometimes the ocean got angry, and when the waves started to froth and lick at the underside of Korra’s jaw, there really was no going back. 

She felt the wave start in her shoulder and pulse forward, carrying her fist along with it. It wasn’t her fault, not really. She carried the ocean inside of her, and what fool would ever claim to control the ocean?

Her fist slammed into his nose with the force of a tsunami behind it. The crowd was howling now, and jumping like a pack of bloodthirsty baboons. The boy dropped like someone cut out his legs from underneath him. Blood began to spurt from his nose before he even hit the ground. 

Unfortunately, Korra was too busy laughing at the expression on Tall boy’s face to notice a third student come up behind her. Hiding a secret player was a pretty nice touch. She had to admit, as the unexpected boy’s elbow slammed into her lip, that Tall boy was maybe even smarter then she initially pegged.

Korra spun away from her attacker's blow and kicked at the back of his knee. He wobbled but didn’t fall, so she jumped on his back to try and hasten his descent. The ring of students around them went absolutely insane. They hollered so loud that it drowned out the rush of the ocean swirling in her ears. 

Korra yelled along with them, joyful and loud as she wrapped her arm around the guy’s neck, trying to make him submit. She loved this. She loved the adrenaline pounding into her fingertips and how strong she felt. The way her body moved and clashed against the others’ was the action she craved so strongly in her day-to-day life.

Fighting was spiritual perfection. A force moved on her, and she answered it with perfect balance. It was an immediate exchange of passion and ferocity and life. It was the exact opposite of reading political articles and studying case files. Fighting made her feel the same way singing made her feel. Like she was finally doing something worthwhile.

“KNOCK IT OFF!” 

A sharp, authoritative voice cut through the entire clamor. Everyone froze, rather comically in Korra’s opinion. Sweatshirt boy was still sitting on the ground, clutching his nose with both hands and Korra was still on the other guy’s back with her arm locked around his neck. Both of them stayed stock-still as a tall guy with really strange eyebrows and a shock of black hair stepped into the circle.

“Get out of here, Mako. You’re just a hall monitor. Last time I checked, we weren’t in the hall,” Tall boy drawled as he finally spoke for the first time and left his place against the wall. His voice held no real venom, though, and Korra suspected it was because she was kicking his boys’ asses. He was probably happy this guy Mako stepped in when he did.

“Disciplinary Officer, not a hall monitor,” Mako replied shortly. Then he turned to glare at Korra.

“I said, knock it off.” He gestured for her to climb off the guy’s back and she did so, but not before she stuck her foot in front of his and shoved him over it, sending him sprawling onto the pavement.

“What the hell?” Mako yelped. He darted forward to grab her arm and tugged her away from the boys.

“What,” Korra grumbled, and wrenched her arm away from him, “You said knock it off, that was me knocking it off! Look, everything’s done now, it’s all good, lay off.” 

Korra noticed another guy who looked like Mako, except a little shorter and a little wider, peeking out from the crowd that was quickly dispersing now that the action had been smothered. He eyed Mako and worried at his lip with his teeth.

Mako sighed and let his shoulders slump a little in defeat. “All right, just get out of here, all of you. I’m not going to write anybody up so you better split before I change my mind.”

“Yes sir,” Tall boy held up a lazy, mocking salute and sauntered away, into the school. His two followers picked themselves up and scuttled after him.

“You’re bleeding,” the Mako look-alike said, pointing to Korra’s lip. He’d snuck up closer to them while they watched the instigators go. Mako jumped in surprise and frowned at the boy, then positioned himself between him and Korra, “I told you to stay back, Bolin.”

That made Korra mad all over again. “I’m not going to hurt him, jeez! Is everyone at this school so damned welcoming or did I just get lucky this morning?” She didn’t wait for an answer and turned on her heel. She took the stairs two at a time, suddenly remembering the actual luck that she’d happened across yesterday, and was now late to meet.

She sprinted through the hallways, trying to count locker numbers and remember Asami’s directions and wipe blood off of her face at the same time. By complete chance, she blew by a side hallway that had a recognizable tall form in it, so she doubled back around and ran down it. Luckily, it was Asami like she’d thought and she pumped her fist into the air in celebration. All in all, it wasn’t turning out to be that bad of a morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This might be a long author's note, so if you're interested in a little bit of characterization explanations, buckle up!
> 
> Alright, so in tackling this modern AU, I've tried to write Asami and Korra as their characters as they would have evolved in modern times. While many might disagree with me, I see Asami in canon as kind of a shy person who learned to pretend like she wasn't, because her talents let her bloom in the booming industrialization of her world. However, in my world, aged down a few years, I feel like Asami might've been attacked in some ways that never happened in canon, crushing her confidence at a young age and never allowing her to bloom. In essence, these early negative encounters kind of started a butterfly affect, changing her initial interactions with Korra and her meeting with Mako, etc. etc.
> 
> If you think the flashback scene was unrealistic, let me assure you that it happens. It's definitely happened to me before; some people just get really vicious over things that don't make logical sense.
> 
> Anyway, Korra's pretty similar to how she was introduced in Book 1. Loud, confident, and not afraid of a fight. I'm trying to keep the characters similar to what they are at their cores, but examine how they'd function in this new world I've dropped them into.


	6. Asami Swears a Lot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami actually stands up for herself, but she's not happy about it. Naga is unfortunately not in this chapter, either.

Asami heard Korra galloping down the hallway long before she saw her, but before she could call out a greeting, her eyes zeroed in on the red smear across Korra’s face. Korra was grinning as she jogged over but Asami was too preoccupied with the blood on her face to notice.

Her lower lip was split jaggedly down the center and instead of paying any sort of attention to it, it looked like Korra had just swiped the back of her hand across her face and then promptly forgotten about it. The bright blood streaked across Korra’s sharp jawline, and the rather rakish grin she was flashing her had Asami’s heart jittering uncomfortably in her chest.

“Korra wha- Are you okay? What the hell happened?”

Asami stepped forward to meet her, her hands already coming up to cup Korra’s face. She swiped her thumb gently underneath her lip and leaned in close to see how bad the damage was.

“What are you talking about, I’m fine! I got in a fight,” Korra said, puffing her chest up and striking a victorious pose, “Well, actually I would’ve won a fight if it hadn’t been interrupted.”

She brought her hands up and rested them on Asami’s forearms in a comforting gesture, somewhat easing her rapid heartbeat. She didn’t pull her face away from Asami’s grasp; content to let Asami continue to look over her injury. She did give her a crooked smile though, which made her cheeks smoosh adorably between Asami’s palms. Asami felt the back of her neck start to warm, but she didn’t feel like pondering over it at the moment, so she pushed the thoughts away.

“I mean, I’m not sure fine is exactly the right adjective to describe you right now. You are bleeding, after all,” Asami huffed out as she tried to pull her mind back into the present. Korra’s easy demeanor helped to diminish her concern over the situation, but she was still curious. How in the world had this girl, this giddy, absolutely wonderfully insane girl, managed to get in a fight before classes even started?

“Hey, like I told you yesterday, this isn’t the first time I’ve been a little bloody. It was two against one, but Asami, you should see one of the other guys, I think I busted his nose pretty bad.” She bounced excitedly on her toes, obviously proud of herself, and continued, “Besides, this could’ve been a lot worse! If this goody two shoes named Mako hadn’t been there-“

Asami scowled and Korra’s chatter faded into background noise. She’d met Mako once before. A few months ago, the front plate of her moped had sent him sprawling in the parking lot after he walked out in front of her without looking. When she tried to apologize and help him up, he took her hand at first, but as soon as he brushed his bangs out of his eyes and recognized her, he let go of her like she was covered in razor wire. He squinted at her like he was confused and then scrambled away without ever saying a word.

Everything was so backwards. It was like other people got to write the script on who Asami was and it got shoved into her hands even if she didn’t like what it said. She supposed she wasn’t really putting in effort to change anyone’s views, but hiding hurt less than being actively driven away. 

She really should’ve accepted one of her father’s dozens of offers to send her to a private school, or a school in the Fire Nation that had an engineering track. But no, of course she couldn’t let herself off easy (let herself be happy). She was staying here. Her pride constantly struggled against her own sense of well-being, but it always came out on top in the end. She wasn’t going to be chased away. Asami was going to stand unmoving against the lockers and let every wave crash over her, and she wasn’t going to fall. (For such a smart girl, she could be really stupid sometimes, she thought).

“Hello? Anyone in there? I thought this story was actually pretty good, but if you don’t want to hear it…” Korra trailed off and waggled her eyebrows at her, teasing.

Asami was tugged jarringly out of her head, and she blushed at being caught. 

“Sorry, Korra. Of course I want to hear it, but first let me clean your face up. I think I have a clean oil rag in my locker somewhere…” She trailed off and started rummaging through the papers and spare tools that had collected in the back of her locker. 

“You know, you have a habit of, mmmhh, I don’t quite know what to call it… going away? Not physically, I mean, but more like you kind of disappear into your head-”

Korra’s words cut off and Asami pulled her head out of her locker to see why. Heat rose to her face when she saw what, or more accurately, who had interrupted her. Korra was standing between Asami and a sickeningly familiar figure. 

Lau Gan-Lan Jr. stood with his signature slouch, seemingly uncaring but actually meticulously presented, and his two lackeys flanking him on either side. One of them had a wad of tissues clamped over his nose and Asami could see bruises already forming in the hollows under his eyes. He must have been the recipient of Korra’s punch.

Korra did looked like she recognized the boys. Her stance was stiff and she was angled protectively in front of Asami. Even though she was only wearing a baseball cap slung backwards over her messy hair and a loose white t-shirt, paired with short black athletic shorts and an old pair of sneakers, she looked like a gladiator preparing herself for battle. Her hands were balled up into fists and Asami could see the corded muscles in her shoulders tightly bunched up and ready for action. 

Despite being faced with the people who’d made her life hell for the past three years, Asami felt surprisingly safe with Korra there. Which was silly because while she didn’t doubt Korra was strong, Lau was smart. Really smart, and he’d shown in the past he wasn’t below using his cunning for nefarious purposes. Like slashing the tires on her moped and completely getting away with it.

“What do we have here? Did Rich Bitch actually take her nose out of the air for long enough to talk to another human being?” Lau sneered and took a step forward. Korra went rigid.

“What the fuck did you just call her?” Korra started to lunge forward, but Asami grabbed a fistful of her tshirt and yanked her back.

“Korra! Leave it alone, I can handle myself.” Asami felt like her face was radiating heat in waves. She was so embarrassed that her vision started to blur. In the past, whenever Lau started in on her, she simply walked away and acted like she didn’t see or hear him. She turned on her invisibility.

But this time it felt different. She couldn’t just walk away now that Korra was here. She didn’t want her to see what people thought of her. She didn’t want Korra to think she was a snob, or a coward, or any of the names they called her.

“Well damn, did you hear that boys? Sato actually said something!” Lau exclaimed in mocking wonder. Gao and Ren snickered behind him. 

Korra let out what sounded to Asami like an actual snarl, and she could feel her pulling forward from where Asami still had a hold of her shirt.

“What is your problem?” She barked, “Neither one of us has done anything to you-” Asami flinched, but it was too late to stop Korra’s words.

Lau straightened up so fast it startled his minions. He was actually mad now, not just playing at it. Asami closed her eyes for a second, willing herself away from this situation, these people, hell even this planet. She just wanted out.

Lau’s lip curled up off of his teeth, “Don’t talk about what you know nothing about. You don’t know this town, or these people and you sure as hell don’t know anything about your new ‘friend’.” Lau’s voice was closer to a hostile whisper now, and his face was so close to Korra’s she could’ve dropped her chin and their foreheads would have touched. 

Asami was nearing her breaking point. Sweat was seeping down her back under her jacket, and she’d most likely just lost the only friend prospect she’d had in years; there’s no way she could look Korra in the eye after this. She had nothing to lose. So, she let her embarrassment boil into anger. 

She shouldered in-between Korra and Lau’s glaring match. Korra stepped back a half pace but she didn’t move any farther, other than to press her hand flat in-between Asami’s shoulder blades. Asami didn’t know if she was trying to push her away, or reassure her or what, but she wasn’t worrying about it at the moment. Lau had stumbled backwards a step, but he looked about as mad as her father did most days now, which didn’t bode well for her.

Regardless, she had something to say, and nothing was going to deter her. She felt detached, and out of control and lightheaded and really, really hot.

“Ok, you know what? You need to get the fuck over yourself. It was just business, Lau! Our fathers’ businesses, to be exact. Korra’s right, I’ve never done anything to you. It’s time for all of this to stop.” She wondered why the bells hadn’t rung for class yet. How long had they even been standing in the hallway for? It seemed like hours had gone by. Even if classes weren’t going to start, she really wished they would at least turn the air conditioning on or something. “And if you touch my fucking moped again, I’m going to kick your ass.”

Asami turned on her heel and tossed her hair over her shoulder as she spun. She thought she felt the ends whip Lau’s dumbstruck face and a small, possibly hysterical, feeling of glee bubbled up in the face of her impending doom. If the mortification of Korra finding out she was an alleged stuck up outcast wasn’t enough to ruin her, she knew there was no way Lau was going to let her live this down. 

She strode down the hall as fast as she could without looking like she was running away. Which she totally wasn’t. Not at all. Asami steeled herself and resisted the urge to tuck her chin into her chest to escape the nosy stares of the bystanders who’d been lucky enough to catch her outburst.

“Hey Asami, wait up! That was wicked, you totally wrecked that guy! You should’ve let me hit him though, he totally deserve-”

The anger that was still roiling inside of Asami frothed over and she stopped dead in her tracks. Korra, who’d been jogging to catch up with her, had to quickly sidestep to avoid running her over.

“You shouldn’t have said anything.”

Korra frowned and pawed at the back of her neck, obviously confused. “What are you talking about? Did you hear what he said to you? He shouldn’t get away with that.”

Asami clenched her fists at her sides. Her palms were slick with nervous sweat.

“Korra, you’ve been at this school for five minutes. I’ve been here three years. I keep my head down, and I don’t talk to people, especially _that ___person. That worked for me, but you came in and managed to ruin that in about ten seconds!”

Korra shook her head in bewilderment and stepped closer to Asami. She reached out and lightly touched Asami’s forearm with her fingertips. She obviously had no idea what she did wrong, and Asami’s chest throbbed painfully at the thought. She was going to have to get that looked at, it was happening a lot lately. 

“Asami, I don’t understand. Why was Lau saying those things? And what were you saying about your father?” 

Asami stepped back, away from Korra’s questions and her reaching fingertips. She shook her head roughly. 

“It doesn’t matter Korra! I told you to leave it alone! You should’ve just… left it alone,” Asami’s voice finally splintered and she felt tears start to build up behind her eyes. Korra’s face had gone slack with disbelief, and that hurt, too. 

She turned away from Korra and this time, she did run. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wassup guys. Long break between this chapter and the last, and I apologize. 
> 
> I'm thankful for all the kudos and the nice things you guys say to me, both here and on tumblr. This fandom is so wonderful to write for, it honestly makes me so happy to be a part of it. 
> 
> Hope everyone has a good week, and I'm sorry for ending that chapter like I did! If you're confused, it's fine. Korra is too. ;)


	7. The Girls Talk it Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra runs a 5k, has a jam session, and finally finds Asami. Everything is going to be ok. For now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Light by Sleeping at Last is the soundtrack for the last half of this chapter. Bit of a longer one for making you guys wait so long.

Korra huffed unhappily as she jogged down another hallway. She hadn’t bargained on doing this much physical activity her first day, and it wasn’t even 8AM yet. If she’d known, she would’ve swiped an extra bagel at breakfast. Korra slowed to a stop and rested for a second with her hands on her knees.

“Dammnit Asami, where did you go? This school is so huge,” Korra groaned, peering up at the ceiling in search for some divine answer. After Asami had run off, she’d stood still for a second, stunned. By the time she got her feet moving, Asami must have taken an unseen turn, or a secret passage or something because Korra had run herself ragged for the past ten minutes and she was still nowhere to be found.

Korra straightened up and prepared to duck down another hallway that looked exactly the same as the last eighteen hallways, but her phone buzzed in the pocket of her shorts. She whipped it out so fast it almost slipped through her fingers, but it was worth it. Asami’s name flashed on the screen and Korra whooped in relief as she swiped open the text message.

**Asami:** Your first class is in room 219. Go up the stairs at the end of the hallway where you met his morning and take a left.

Korra smiled despite the cold tone of the text. Asami promised she wouldn’t let Korra get lost on her first day, and it looked like she was keeping her word, even if she wasn’t super pleased with her at the moment. Korra typed out a quick reply.

**Korra:** Please tell me where u are. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause trouble.

Korra waited, but no reply came. She sighed and kicked at the floor with the toe of her sneaker. She just had to go and mess up the first friend prospect she had in this city, didn’t she. She turned and walked slowly back to where she thought Asami’s locker was. 

Tenzin would be disappointed if she blew off class on her first day, and she knew now that Asami wouldn’t be found until Korra learned her way around the school (unlikely), or unless she wanted to be. That knowledge didn’t help loosen the guilty knot churning in the pit of her stomach.

Korra followed Asami’s instructions and slipped into her first class, History and Law, just as the echoes of the last bell faded away. 

\- - - - - 

Other than a haze of new faces and the irritable scraping of chalkboards, Korra didn’t remember much of the first half of her day. Asami continued to text her directions to her classes, but Korra couldn’t get her to reply back to anything else.

She was currently letting herself be pulled along in the flow of hungry students heading to the cafeteria, though she didn’t feel much like eating. All she wanted to do was go back in time and erase that last tearful look Asami had thrown over her shoulder at her.

Korra snarled in frustration and ducked out of the current. She shoved her hands in her pockets and started wandering. She could hear echoes of people talking, but they faded into silence as she got farther and farther away from the cafeteria. Soon, the only sounds were the soles of her sneakers squeaking softly against the tiles. 

Gradually, a muffled thumping so quiet that Korra didn’t actually realize she was hearing it at first joined the squeaking of her shoes. She only consciously became aware of the sound when a swifter, higher pitched tapping joined it. Korra tilted her head, listening, and then turned, following the familiar noises.

It only took her a few moments to find the band room, and a few more than that to recognize the boy sitting at the drum set. He was the heavyset one who told her she was bleeding earlier that morning, the brother of the annoying hall monitor. Bolin or something like that.

His eyes were shut tight in concentration and he was pounding away on the snare drum, trying to keep a quick, heady rhythm. A sweaty curl was stuck to his forehead, but he was smiling, obviously enjoying himself.

Korra slipped into the room and smiled herself when she saw a guitar plugged into a small amp that’d definitely seen happier times. But an amp was an amp and Korra needed to lower her blood pressure after the morning she’d gotten herself into. 

Bolin just about jumped out of his skin when Korra started playing, but he picked his sticks up back up quick enough after she tipped her baseball cap at him and gestured for him to keep drumming.

Neither one of them said anything, but Bolin laughed out loud when Korra really started to see what the guitar could do. It was creaky and old and probably had been played by generations of clumsy public school students, but it still made music and Korra was a fan of any tool that played along with her. Her fingers flew over the strings and she pounded out some of her favorite, lashing cords. Bolin whooped and dove into a quicker rhythm, weaving it into Korra’s noise, but still giving the music a solid foundation to rest against. It was loud, brain-busting music, and Korra worshiped it.

She didn’t sing, but her fingers snapped like firecrackers against the strings and she could feel her anger from earlier spitting out of her into the accepting haven of the band room. Bolin’s base drum thrummed against her ribcage and her heart shuddered along with it. She poured the last of her irritation into one last formidable push, and then dropped the guitar, letting it catch on the strap around her knock and knock against her hipbones.

Bolin followed a second later with one last cymbal crash that faded nothing. Both of them were panting and Korra’s fingers were burning from her efforts. She felt drained, but relieved. The tension that’d been coiling in her gut all day was looser and Korra sent a silent thank you up to the music goddesses for giving her some stress release.

“That was AMAZING!” Bolin yelled, jumping up off of his stool. His foot got caught on the leg of his base drum and he tumbled to the ground, but he bounced back up with even more enthusiasm. Korra couldn’t help but grin back at him.

“Heh, yeah it was. You’re pretty good.”

Bolin proudly puffed up his chest. He was adorable, like a puppy. Korra had to physically restrain herself from ruffling his sweaty hair.

“Thanks! I’ve been practicing a lot. Usually Mako plays with me, but he wanted to do an extra ‘patrol’ today because of this morning.”

Korra scowled. “That tightwad? What does he play, the clarinet?”

“Aw, come on, he’s not so bad. He plays bass, and he’s pretty good at it, too. Don’t be so rough on him, he’s pretty much the best brother ever and while I don’t doubt you could of taken care of those guys, you really should have gotten in trouble for that. He let you off easy.”

Korra quirked an eyebrow at Bolin’s rambling defense of his brother but she gave him a conceding nod. 

“Alright, if you say so. You sure he doesn’t play clarinet, though? He reminds me of Squidward. Anyway, thank you for playing along, I needed that.”

Bolin frowned in concern, “Oh yeah, are you ok? That fight earlier was pretty intense.”

“Huh? Oh, no that’s not what’s bugging me. I like fighting!” She flashed him a crooked grin but then sobered up, “I kind of had a misunderstanding with my friend, Asami.”

“Asami Sato?” Bolin’s eyebrows shot up. 

“Yeah, you know her?”

Bolin sat down in one of the plastic chairs lined up behind the music stands in the center of the room. He ran his hand through his hair, making his curls stick up.

“Mmm, yeah. Pretty much everyone does, though. Her dad’s pretty famous.”

Korra thumped down next to him. “Yeah, but do you _actually_ know her?”

Bolin shook his head, though he did manage to look a little guilty about it. 

“No, but I mean nobody really does. She keeps to herself.”

“Yeah, nobody but that Lau guy! He seemed to know her pretty well!” Korra was starting to get frustrated again. She wanted to know what was going on.

“Ohhh, you don’t want to get into that. It’s a pretty nasty deal between those two. Has been for years. He’s been pretty awful to her.” 

“And nobody has thought to stand up for her or with her? What’s his deal anyway? What’s anyone’s deal at this crazy school?”   
Bolin shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. “I dunno Korra, like I said, it’s been this way for years. And Lau’s dad is a pretty im-”

Korra held up a hand, stopping him. “No, don’t tell me. If Asami wants me to know, she’ll tell me herself.”

She stood up and wiped her hands on her shorts. “Thanks again for playing with me, we should do it again sometime. Like I said, you’ve got skills.” She clapped him on the shoulder and started for the door.

“Korra, wait!” When she turned around, Bolin was standing with his hands in his pockets. He wouldn’t meet her eyes, but he said, “Try the shop studio. Asami’s pretty much a mechanical genius. When I do see her, she’s usually in there tinkering around with one thing or another.”

Korra nodded, “Thanks, Bo.” 

\-----------

The clammy floor of the shop had long since cooled down Asami’s flustered skin, but she still felt miserable. She was laying on her back under her moped, fiddling with the engine. She’d replaced the tires Lau and his cronies shredded yesterday hours ago and was just trying to keep her mind busy at this point. It wasn’t working.

She shouldn’t have snapped at Korra, she could clearly see that now that the adrenaline had seeped out of her. She had just been embarrassed and… and rather furious now that she thought about it. Lau had been shaking her up like a can of soda for years now and Asami was honestly surprised she hadn’t exploded sooner. She wished that explosion hadn’t caught Korra in the shockwave, but she had to accept that all she could do now was damage control. 

But right now, she was too humiliated to do anything other than text Korra directions to her classes (Asami had easily memorized her schedule after a few glances last night) and try to tune up her moped.

All Korra was trying to do was help her; to be the knight in shining armor that Asami had been desperately seeking for years. Finally someone didn’t ignore her or turn up their nose, finally someone stuck their neck out for her and what did she do?

“I should’ve just stepped up and been my own knight, avoided all of this,” she grumbled to herself. Her hand slipped off her wrench as she tried to tighten a nut and she swore as her knuckles banged painfully against a pipe.

She did have a history of driving people away, after all, but her blossoming friendship with Korra was something she absolutely could not mess up. Asami wouldn’t let herself. She needed to formulate an apology, something really heartfelt... something she could only do if the damned radio would stop babbling about gang activity and shootings and illegal weapon deals and other horrible things Asami didn’t need to be hearing about right now.

She slid grumpily out from under her machine and reached for the radio dial, but a dark-skinned hand beat her to it. She yelped and rolled away in surprise, which startled Korra in turn. She jumped and knocked the radio off of the workbench, and only managed to catch it inches before it hit the ground. She gingerly set it back in its place and looked sheepishly down at Asami though her shaggy bangs.

“Hey. I’ve been looking for you all day.”

Asami blushed and looked down, wiping her greasy hands on her black jeans. Say something, say something, apologize, say some-

“Uhhh, yeah, I’ve just been in here. Fixing up my-” she gestured helplessly to her moped. Dumbass. Asami slid into a sitting position and leaned back against the workbench. She put her hand over her face and sighed.

“Look, Korra-”

“Asami, I-”

They both cringed, but Korra shook off the awkwardness faster. She tugged her cap down more firmly over her hair in determination and then dropped into a cross-legged sit directly in front of Asami. She pawed at the back of her neck with her hand, took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry. Lau was right, I don’t know anything about this school, or what’s been going on, or-or anything about you, really. But, I want to. Know more about you, I mean,” She ducked her chin, trying to get Asami to meet her eyes. 

Asami felt her fingers curl into fists and she ashamedly avoided Korra’s attempts. She needed to explain herself, make sure Korra knew she didn’t do anything wrong. It’s time to step up. Do this, now. Do it, Asami.

“No Korra, please don’t apologize.” It came out in a forceful rush, and Asami felt more than saw Korra’s surprise, seeing as she still wasn’t looking at her. She kept plunging forward, “I was wrong to yell at you. You’re the first person who’s ever stood up for me, did you know that? I was just embarrassed about the whole thing. Humiliated really. I like you so much and all I wanted was for you to see me differently than everyone else here. Not as some snob or stereotype. Just as… me. And when that obviously blew up in my face, I lost my temper. So I’m sorry,” she peered up at Korra, meeting her eyes for the first time since she started talking, “And I really want you to know things about me, too. I’m tired of being alone.”

\-----

Korra leaned forward, bracing herself with one hand on the floor and bringing her other up to Asami’s cheek. She’d intended to wipe away a smudge of grease and the hint of a tear, but now that the movement had brought her face forward, so close to Asami’s, she was frozen with her hand still brushing across her skin.

Her whole body was thrumming with some sort of energy that Korra couldn’t name. She didn’t understand what her body wanted her to do, other than it definitely wanted. Asami carefully caught Korra’s wrist and threaded her long, callused fingers around it. They stayed there, suspended in the heat of a strange, heady feeling that made Korra’s head spin. Asami was biting her lip and gazing steadily at Korra and Korra was so hot, she didn’t know what to do next, she didn’t even know how to move or sit back down or breathe for that matter.

Asami blinked slowly, and the momentary breakage of eye contact allowed Korra to shake herself out of whatever trance she’d fallen into. She sat back, but held onto Asami’s fingers around her wrist with her other hand, keeping them there. Asami let out puff of air, like she’d been holding her breathe alongside Korra.

Korra, for her part, finally remembered she was supposed to actually respond to Asami’s apology. She tapped Asami’s fingers lightly with her own and said, “You shouldn’t have to apologize for what some assholes did to you. I don’t care what you or your father did, if anything. You don’t deserve that shit, Asami,” she set her jaw in determination and held Asami’s eyes, “and I’m going to make sure it ends. You’re not alone anymore and nothing is going to scare me away, got it?”

For a second, Korra though Asami was going to start crying again, but she just nodded and lunged forward, wrapping Korra in a bone-crushing hug. Korra’s legs were folded rather awkwardly underneath her, but she wasn’t about to say anything. She tucked her face into the crook of Asami’s neck and huffed contentedly into her hair. 

“You know you’re my only friend here too so far, right?” She mumbled into Asami’s hair, “Being alone isn’t really my thing, either.”

Asami squeezed Korra tighter for a second and then released her. She sat back and smiled softly at her. Korra’s stomach did a weird flip, and all she could do was grin crookedly back.

Asami flicked her knee lightly and said, “Goof. You want to come over to my house tonight? I can make dinner and enlighten you a little more about the whole Lau situation. You deserve a real explanation.” She leaned back, bracing herself with one hand. She must’ve taken off her jacket to work on her moped because she was just in a loose grey tank top that hung perfectly off her lanky frame. “But as for right now, you have class in less than ten minutes.”

Korra managed to drag her eyes away from Asami’s wonderful clothing choices and stuck out her tongue. She hopped up to sit on the workbench and said, “It’s just gym, Miss Know-it-All, but yes I would love to come over. Can we ride your moped?”

Asami perked up immediately, and Korra knew it was the right thing to ask. “Oh for sure, she’s all tuned up and ready to go! I’ve even got an extra helmet stashed around here somewhere, just let me find it.”

Korra laughed as she watched Asami fumble around underneath the workbench, tossing odd-looking metal bits and pieces out behind her as she searched. The ceiling of the shop had long rectangular skylights and the afternoon light sifted down to the floor in long, lazy sunbeams. 

“How come you don’t have class, did you skip all of them?”

Asami stuck out a hand behind her where Korra could see it and waved it dismissively. “Pfft, I could pass my classes with my eyes closed, and all the teachers know it. I give them good test scores, they don’t bother me.”

Korra playfully kicked at her hand and got a smack on the ankle for her troubles. “Alright nerd, whatever you say. You wanna tell me how to get to the gym, then? If you’re going to make me go, I might as well do it right. I’ve got sports to dominate, goals to score, butts to kick, you get the gist.”

“Okay, now who’s bragging?”

“I never said you were bragging! I’m one-hundred percent positive you’re as smart as you think you are. Not humble, but smart for sure- Ow! Stop with the hitting!”

Asami emerged fully from underneath the workbench with a scuffed up blue helmet held triumphantly in her hand. She swiped good-humoredly at Korra’s leg again, but she managed to dodge it this time. “Oh boo hoo, you got your face busted this morning so I know you can take a harder hit than that. How is your lip, anyway?”

Korra waved away her concern. “It’s fine, I told you that already. That reminds me though, how are your hands? You didn’t get grease in your lethal wounds did you? Naga’s really sorry, by the way, she told me so.”

“Nope, no grease. They looked much better this morning, thanks to your life-saving surgical skills. And tell Naga she’s got still some serious sucking up to do before I welcome her with open arms,” Asami teased.

Korra chuckled, feeling lighter than air, like she could take a deep breath and float up to the rafters with the dust motes at any second. “Seriously though, how do I get to gym class?”

\-------- 

“She can play, Mako, I’m telling you! It was wicked,” Bolin exclaimed, waving his spatula around excitedly. Mako ducked out of the way and scowled at his brother.

“I said no, Bo. She’s an agitator, I can tell.”

Bolin scowled right back, “An ‘agitator.’ She’s just excitable, you don’t have to be a detective to see that. But that doesn’t mean she’s a bad person. And she can PLAY!”

Mako shook his head and turned back to the stove, where they were trying to cook dinner.

“No. This is the most decent house we’ve been in so far and we have to stay out of trouble this time. I’ve only got a couple years left until I age out of the system and then we can do our own thing. But until then, no band.” Bolin’s lower lip jutted out and his previously animated spatula arm drooped, but Mako just turned away. “Don’t give me that face, I’m serious.”

“Ok, well if I can get her to jam with me again, will you play with us? Just for fun, nothing else?”

Mako sighed. He really couldn’t completely say no to his brother, he never could. Bolin was his fatal flaw, his Achilles heel, his- “Fire! That’s on fire, Bolin! Sheesh, pay attention, bro. And fine, if you can convince her, and if I’m free, I might play with you guys. Maybe.”

“You’re the best Mako. I love you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just cook.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I aced my finals and I'm finally freeeeeeeee. I've home with my family, I've got some pretty sick internship interviews and I am so ready for summer. I'm a happy camper right now. Unfortunately, I seem to have lost the ability to tell if what I'm writing is crap or not, so apologies if this chapter falls under the former. 
> 
> In all seriousness though, I've said it before, but I love you guys for sticking with me on this one. Y'all make my world go round :)
> 
> Contact me on my tumblr if you want to chat about anything!


	8. The Girls go for a Ride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra and Asami hang out with some trees and watch a movie. Both of them have some fun revelations.

“It’s after ten, Jinora. You should be in bed by now.”

Despite her words, Korra’s fingers didn’t stop combing lightly through the young girls hair. Jinora flopped her head to the side to look at Korra from her position on Korra’s stomach.

“Well I didn’t get to see you barely at all today. And technically, I’m in a bed. Just not my own.”

Korra smiled fondly at the girl and poked at her ribs. They were sprawled across Korra’s bed on top of the comforter, Jinora laying half on Korra’s stomach with her legs propped up against the wall. Naga was asleep at the head of the bed and Korra was leaned up against her side. Her fur was getting in her mouth and her lungs inflating and deflating made Korra’s head bob up and down like she was on the ocean again, but she didn’t mind. Naga’s steady heartbeat and Jinora’s warmth curled up against her made her feel sleepy and wonderfully content.

“I promise I’ll be home after school tomorrow, I just had some stuff to figure out with Asami today.”

Jinora prodded her back in retaliation and Naga huffed as Korra squirmed away. “Asami seems pretty cool.”

Korra felt a smile start to drift goofily across her face, but she was powerless to stop it. Jinora noticed.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“Nothing, I swear,” Korra paused to think for a moment. “I dunno really, she just makes me feel… different. A good different though! Like, I really just want to make her smile and make sure she’s happy and- and,” Korra frowned in confusion. “Like I said, I don’t know how to explain it.”

Jinora scooched forward so that she was propped up a little higher on Korra’s stomach. “Korra do you think that you maybe… like her?” 

Korra’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “Well yeah, of course I like her. She’s amazi-”

“No, Korra, I mean do you _like_ her?”

“What? Oh. _Oh_.” Korra scrambled up into a sitting position, displacing Jinora’s head, her heart suddenly pounding like she was sprinting instead of just sitting in bed. Did she like Asami? What did that even mean, how was she supposed to know?

“Um- I don’t- I mean I’ve never really thought of, of girls that way. In that way. I-I’m not-” she stuttered, her face redder than a fire hydrant. Naga, sensing her distress, twisted so she could put her head in Korra’s lap and Korra fisted her fingers in her fur, clutching it anxiously.

Jinora sat up on her knees and put her hands on Korra’s shoulders, “Hey Korra, you’re alright. I was just wondering, you don’t have to freak out. It’s not like it’s a bad thing! My Aunt Kya’s been married to Aunt Sakari for like, forever.”

Naga whined and Korra unknotted her fingers from her fur to soothe her. She sucked in a deep, mind-cleansing breathe and nodded slowly at Jinora’s words. “Yeah, um, okay. Okay. I’m just not sure,” She met Jinora’s eyes and the other girl gave her a small smile. “I guess I’ve got some thinking to do, huh?” 

She wrapped her arm around Jinora’s small frame and pulled her into her lap. She snuggled her close for a second before blowing a raspberry in the crook of her neck. Jinora squealed and shoved at her head, trying to escape.

“Korra! Knock it off you big loser, let me go!”

“Neverrrrr!” Naga woofed happily and joined in on the wrestling match by flopping down on top of both of them. Korra’s wailing joined Jinora’s as they tried to escape their fluffy captor.

“Hey! It’s after bedtime for all three of you ladies. You’re going to wake up Rohan.” Korra and Jinora froze at Pema’s terse tone and Korra smiled sheepishly up at where she stood in the doorway.

“Sorry, Pema, we were just saying goodnight.”

“Yeah, sorry, Mom.”

Jinora gave Korra a smacking kiss on the cheek and ruffled Naga’s ears after she managed to extricate herself out from underneath the fuzzy behemoth. She followed Pema out of Korra’s bedroom, but turned at the last second and waggled her eyebrows slyly at Korra, who groaned and slapped a hand over her eyes. This was just too much for her poor mind to take, not to mention the rest of her body. She still felt all sweaty and tingly thinking about what Jinora said.

Pema lingered in the doorway after Jinora left, and Korra looked up at her expectantly. Korra was pretty sure she hadn’t overheard what she and Jinora were discussing earlier, but unease swirled in her stomach anyway.

“Everything ok, Pema?”

Pema stepped into the room and laid an arm lightly across Korra’s shoulders, giving her a small squeeze. “Of course, sweetheart. I was just thinking that if you’re going to be spending more time in the city, I want to make sure you don’t go anywhere alone, especially at night.” Pema gazed out of Korra’s window. “Tenzin and the other council members have been working hard trying to control this new ‘Equalist’ group but the situation’s getting to be rather dangerous and I don’t want you getting caught up in the middle of anything.”

“I know, Tenzin’s had me learning more about it in our lessons, and Asami and I heard some of it on the radio today. Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.”

“I know you will be. Just stick with Asami when you’re in the city. Make sure she doesn’t get hurt either. She’s a good kid.”

Korra’s stomach flipped at Asami’s mention. She was definitely going to do everything in her power to keep her safe. In the city and at school. She nodded solemnly to Pema, and the older woman gave her another affectionate squeeze before saying goodnight.

After Pema left, Korra turned off her light and laid flat in her bed, staring unseeing at the ceiling. So much had happened today. Instead of brooding about Jinora’s catalytic words and her own potential (terrifying, blindsiding, possibly exciting?) epiphany, she let her mind wander back to a few hours before, when school got out and Asami took her for her first ride through the city.

\----

Asami couldn’t help but smile at Korra’s antics while she tried to convince Tenzin to let her ride home with Asami. The girl just couldn’t stay still. They’d wheeled Asami’s moped out into the parking lot after school got out and were sitting on the concrete base of a light pole, waiting for Tenzin to okay their after school plans. Or at least, Asami was sitting. Korra had shimmied her way up the bottom quarter of the light pole with only one hand and her feet, yammering away to Tenzin on her cell phone with the other.

“Tenzin, we have helmets!” Korra grunted in exertion as she pulled herself up another foot. “I’m not doing anything right now, what are you talking about? I’m just hanging out with Asami in the parking lot, I swear. We’ll be fine, I promise. Asami’s been driving since she was like, a toddler.” Korra looked down at Asami and rolled her eyes in exasperation, then yelped as her sneaker slipped down a few inches.

Asami hopped up and positioned herself strategically beneath Korra, calculating where she would be most likely to fall and bash her head in.

“Korra, if you fall, Tenzin’s going to kill me!” She called up, holding up her arms just in case.

“Well Tenzin just said yes, so we’re in the clear,” Korra whooped, and stowed her phone safely in her pocket. She scrambled up a few more feet and triumphantly slapped her hand over a rusted bolt, which had apparently been her climbing goal, because as soon as she did, Korra loosened her grip and started to slide haphazardly down the pole.

She was like a fireman, Asami thought, a very clumsy fireman. Her calculations proved to be correct when Korra hit the base at the exact spot she predicted. Also as she expected, Korra going too fast to stick the landing. Her arms started to pinwheel as she toppled backwards, but Asami was already in place behind her. She caught Korra easily under her armpits and set her carefully back up on her feet.

“What would I do without you?” Korra huffed in exaggerated relief and reached behind her to pat Asami’s cheek in thanks. “Well, now that we’ve showed that pole whose boss, let’s get going. Tenzin said he could pick me up on his way home; he’s got a late meeting tonight. Oh yeah, and someone promised me dinner, I’m starving!”

Asami hoped her ears weren’t red. All this casual contact with Korra was driving her nuts. “Well maybe if you hadn’t skipped lunch, you wouldn’t be so hungry, and besides, I want to take you for a ride first, remember?” Oh yeah, and now Korra was going to be pressed up against her on a very tiny machine. She really didn’t think this through very well, for all her calculating.

Korra stuck out her tongue, “I was trying to find you, loser, sorry for caring.”

Asami knocked her shoulder against Korra’s and shoved her helmet into her hands. She felt so comfortable with Korra. The crippling anxiety that usually gripped her when she was around people her age was wonderfully absent in Korra’s case, and Asami was free to tease and actually have… fun.

It was a strange concept, for sure. She hadn’t had anything close to fun at school in a long time, and playing around with Korra in the parking lot was starting to make her feel like she’d slipped into a parallel universe without noticing. It felt strange, and Asami didn’t necessarily want to contaminate whatever good thing she had going with Korra by sticking around this hellhole for any longer than they had to.

Unfortunately, for all Korra’s excitement earlier in the shop, she actually looked rather reluctant about the prospect of climbing on Asami’s moped now. Korra slid her helmet on but didn’t make any other moves. A sudden fear struck Asami, what if Korra was hesitating because she was uncomfortable riding so close to her? But no, she just spent forever trying to convince Tenzin to let her, that couldn’t be it. Maybe she was just scared?

“Please don’t kill me,” Korra said uneasily. Aha, that was it. Korra was scared, or at least nervous. Asami climbed on and tried to appear as relaxed and in control as possible, waiting for Korra to pluck up her nerve and hop on the back.

“Korra, this is a moped, not a Fast and Furious movie. We’re going to be fine.” 

Korra rolled her eyes but gingerly climbed onto the seat, “Alright Sassmaster, but if this goes badly, you’re the one who gets to explain everything to Tenzin. He’s already going to be mad about my busted lip, I’d rather not add, ‘in a vegetable state as an unfortunate result of a tragic moped accident’ to the list.”

Asami reached back and pulled Korra’s arms around her own waist, and no she wasn’t blushing, why would she be blushing, and made sure her helmet was secure. 

“Oh hush, just hold on and trust me, this is going to be fun,” she patted Korra’s hand, “What happened to all your bravado, anyway? Is big bad Korra really afraid of-”

“Cut it out, man! We don’t have many cars in the South, I don’t even know how to drive. So just go before I change my mind,” Korra huffed, but released her tight hold around Asami’s waist for a second to poke her side and let her know she wasn’t actually angry.

Not waiting around for Korra to lose her nerve, Asami turned the key and revved her beloved bike into action. She felt more than heard Korra’s tiny yelp against the back of her neck as Korra tucked her head into Asami. Her arms tightened around her waist as Asami pulled out of the parking lot onto the highway. 

Driving was definitely one of Asami’s favorite things. It was like a mechanical form of meditation. She loved feeling the hum of the engine underneath her, tiny but still powerful. She flexed the muscles in her legs and shoulders and melted into the bike like it was just another extension of her own body. Korra’s extra weight and inexperienced posture threw off Asami’s turns a little bit, but she still drove fluidly enough that Korra began to loosen up.

The wind playfully teased wisps of her hair out from under her helmet. Though there were other cars on the road, the way the sun stuttered between buildings and trees, illuminating the road in front of them with a shaky brilliance, made Asami feel as if she and Korra were the only two people left on the planet. 

She was laughing before she even consciously decided to open her mouth and she heard Korra join her, or at least she heard the laughs that the wind didn’t steal away first. Korra tried to press herself closer but ended up just knocking her bulky helmet against the back of Asami’s which just made them laugh harder. She felt Korra’s left hand fist tighter in her leather jacket and the right one let go entirely. Asami chanced a glance backward to see her fling her hand into the air and let out a wordless yell of joy.

The sun glinted off Korra’s helmet and gave her a haloed outline that was almost too bright to look at. Asami reveled in the feeling of a wave of something, happiness or excitement maybe? No, exhilaration, that was it, a wave of exhilaration rising up from the base of her and swooping up into her throat, begging to be somehow released.

Asami urged her bike on faster and weaved authoritatively between slower moving cars that weren’t possessed by the same energy as she was. The wind in her face, her bike humming faithfully underneath her, Korra’s arm around her waist and her hand in the air, shouting in Asami’s ear, it was all almost too much. Asami pumped her hand into the air, feeling a little silly and a little giddy at the same time, and joined in on Korra’s happy war cry. Happy war cry? Was that an oxymoron? She’d have to think about more about that later, because right now she wanted to be as present as possible.

\- - - - - 

Sure, it was more than a little terrifying, but Korra decided as soon as they peeled out of the parking lot that she loved it when Asami drove. When Tenzin drove her places, it felt like being in a vehicle was a chore or a necessary evil. But when Asami drove, Korra felt like a War Boy from Mad Max conquering the highway, or, even though Asami said this wasn’t Fast and Furious, she did feel kind of like Vin Diesel. Just a little bit.

Asami darted in and out of traffic in a way that probably looked reckless to onlookers, but was actually perfectly controlled. If Korra knew anything about Asami, it was that she liked to have a say in the control of things happening around her. So Korra was a little surprised when Asami let the handlebars go and raised her fist into the air next to Korra’s. Surprised, but entirely pleased about it. Asami could probably drive this thing with just her toes if she really wanted to.

The bike slowed and Asami put her hand back down to guide it down an exit lane. Korra leaned forward and tried to yell in Asami’s ear, “Where are we going?” 

Asami apparently heard her, because she turned her head enough so that Korra could see her painted lips stretching up into a grin and said, “Somewhere I think you’re going to like!”

The exit curved down and under the raised highway and into such a different world that it jarred Korra’s senses. The loud woosh of the wind and vehicles of the road completely dissipated into silence. The white hot sun turned into a hazy green light that filtered in through a ceiling of interlocking branches and leaves. The biggest, wildest trees that Korra had ever seen arched over their heads and branched off and then came back together into spiraling paths that led deeper into the pseudo forest that seemed to spring up out of nowhere in the middle of the concrete city.

“Welcome to the Wilds,” Asami said in a hushed tone, with a reverence that felt completely appropriate for the setting. She slowly drove the moped further into the trees until the sight of the bigger roads was gone, and then she pulled over to a stop. 

It wasn’t just a forest; the Wilds were a seamless mesh of urban and wildlife. The trees seemed to twist in, and out, and through the buildings, like the structures grew up around them. Clotheslines were strung between branches and windowsills, and more than one whimsically colored tree house was perched on giant branches. Some of the trunks had murals painted across them, and carved faces peeked out of the nooks and crannies of others. It was like the forest of a fantasy novel had grown up underneath the city until it couldn’t help but bubble forth into daily life.

Air that was shady and cool enveloped them so that Korra felt like they’d slipped underwater. “It’s,” Korra paused, unable to find a word big enough to encompass the first truly wild space she’d encountered since leaving home, “wonderful. This is amazing, Asami.” She slid off the moped and held out a hand to help Asami off. 

Though she probably didn’t need it, Asami grasped it gracefully and didn’t let go, tugging Korra onto the sidewalk that was crisscrossed with an abstract pattern of roots. Flowers grew up out of tiny potholes and cracks in the cement.

“The Founders of this city refused to bulldoze the forest that called this land home for centuries before humans even set foot here. It took a lot of extra time and money, but the Founders were adamant; we share this land or we don’t live here at all. The city grew up in and around the trees. We make it work.”

Korra listened with hungry ears, entranced in Asami’s surprise history lesson. “This is the back end of the city that juts up against the mountain pass, so the forest extends for miles and miles after the city ends, pretty much untouched. It’s an amazing place.”

“You’ve got that right! Wow…” Korra breathed and spun slowly underneath the leaves. She realized she was still clutching Asami’s hand when she completed a turn and ended up a lot closer to the girl then when she started. Instead of stepping back, she ducked forward and squeezed Asami in a tight hug. She wasn’t really sure what made her do it; just that she was touched that Asami wanted to share this place with her. Asami’s arms fell easily around her shoulders and she started turning them in a mimic of Korra’s earlier spin.

“Thank you for bringing me here,” She whispered into Asami’s collarbone. She thought she felt the other girl shiver, but wasn’t sure. Asami hummed against her temple, “Mmm. Mom used to bring me here when I was little. She taught me what felt like a thousand birdcalls. I think I still remember a few.”

“You know, I have a feeling I would’ve really liked your mom.” Asami’s arms tightened and she nodded after a second. Korra slid her hands down to Asami’s arms and pulled back so she could check Asami’s eyes. They weren’t so much sad as they were distant. The green light made them shine even more than usual. “She raised a really good kid,” Korra finished, squeezing Asami’s wrists.

Asami sighed, “Yeah. She would have loved you, I’m sure of it. You would have made her laugh.” She paused and then said quieter, wistfully, “I wish she could have raised me a little longer, you know?”

Korra felt like whimpering and grabbing Asami and never letting her go again, but instead she called up something Jinora tried to explain to her once. “You know, Tenzin’s family is really into forms of life. Like, how the particles that make up you and me used to once make up the stars, and the oceans and maybe even birds and trees and the rain. Then, once they’re done being us, they start to be a part of something else. And um,” Korra squeezed her eyes shut, trying to remember. Asami waited patiently, but Korra could sense a yearning in her to try and absorb and understand what Korra was saying. “Oh! And, energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be changed from one form to another. So maybe the people we’ve lost are still here with us, just not in the same way or in the same form.”

Korra sucked in a breath, hoping she hadn’t upset Asami or sounded like she was forcing any beliefs on her. Asami’s eyes slipped closed and she stood still for a moment. Then, she gently tugged her wrists from Korra’s grasp and walked over to the nearest tree. She pressed her palm to the trunk, softly at first but then firmer, her fingers curling into the canyons of the bark.

She released a shuddery breath and asked, “So my mom could be part of the trees?” Her voice was so raw that Korra just nodded, unable to speak. “Okay…. Okay.” Asami nodded decisively and stepped back so she could look up into the branches of the tree.

“Hey Mom. I kind of like this idea of part of you being the trees better than the one where you’re just underground, gone.” She glanced back at Korra, “This is Korra, she’s my friend. You’re really going to like her, Mom.”

\- - - - - 

Asami felt like she should be embarrassed about how emotional she’d gotten earlier, she’d almost started crying about her mom when she took Korra there with the intention of only showing her some cool trees, but she couldn’t muster up the energy. Not when she was sprawled across her couch with Korra’s legs thrown across her lap and laughing at Lilo and Stitch into the spaghetti they’d made for dinner.

“Dude, do you think you’re smart enough to make me a little alien monster? Actually wait, scratch that. I already have Naga and she’s a big enough monster for me to handle.”

Asami laughed and flicked Korra’s shin, “Oh shut up, you love that dog more than life itself. And of course I’m smart enough, I’m a genius, remember?”

“So cocky!” Korra tried to shove her toes into Asami’s face. “My dog is the best, though just because I love her doesn’t mean I have to like her all the time.”

“Very true,” Asami swatted Korra’s foot away, “now be quiet, this is a funny part.”

“Your favorite part is when Lilo beats the shit out of Myrtle? I knew I liked you,” Korra giggled.

“I said a funny part, not my favorite part! That comes later,” Asami retorted, desperately hoping Korra wouldn’t notice how hot her cheeks were. This whole blushing thing was getting out of hand.

As it turns out, liking girls in theory was a lot easier than actually liking _a_ girl. Asami knew since she was young that she noticed girls just as much as boys, but it she never really felt the need to address it because there was never a girl. She’d been so preoccupied with her dad and learning engineering, and then with all the bullshit that went on at school, that she’d never really experienced a for real, actual crush on a girl.

Yeah, until now. She was fucked, absolutely fucked. The second Naga trampled her, it was all over, and she just didn’t realize it until the Wilds. When Korra was telling her she used to be stardust, with the most earnest look on her face and Asami was caught up thinking about how much her mom would’ve adored Korra and how much she adored Korra and… there it was. She adored her in the kind of way where she wanted to set her spaghetti on the table, lay down behind Korra, tug her close, and maybe kiss the back of her neck. Or her shoulder. Or maybe- shit, this was not platonic in the slightest. She was so fucked.

“You alright Asami?” Korra asked, poking her with her toe again, “Stitch just ate Pleakley’s head and you didn’t even smile.

If she wasn’t red before, she definitely was now. Asami squirmed, but her mind crashed like an out of date laptop, and all she was getting was the blue screen of death. Say something, anything-

“Uh, yeah. I was just thinking about… Lau! Yeah, I was thinking about Lau.”

Korra cocked her eyebrow but thankfully didn’t say anything about Asami’s minor meltdown. Instead she sat up and crossed her legs in a sitting position, then asked, “Oh yeah, did you want to talk about that? We don’t have to if you don’t want to, but I have to admit, I am a little curious.”

Asami paused the movie, then faced Korra and mirrored her position. “No, I want to tell you. It’s not really that complicated of a story. Lau’s father used to be the CEO of Cabbage Corps, have you heard of them?” Korra shook her head. “Well, they were a leading technology and engineering company a few years back, just like Future Industries, but they made shoddy products, and my dad knew it.”

She could actually pinpoint the second Korra started to put together the rest of her story. Her eyebrows pinched together and she frowned. She took her hat off and ran her fingers through her hair, messing it up. 

Asami sighed and continued, “So, he released a detailed case study that went over every corner that Cabbage Corps was cutting in order to make the cheapest products possible. Then, he released a new line of Satomobiles that didn’t cut corners and were superior in almost every way. That two-hit combo devastated Cabbage Corps. The company sunk faster than anyone anticipated and Lau’s father went bankrupt pretty quickly. He sold his remaining shares and equipment to Future Industries for nothing more than the price of scrap metal. His family went from moguls to nothing in the span of a year. It was brutal, yeah, but it was business, and that’s how business is done here.”

“I’m guessing his son didn’t see it that way, though, did he?”

A mirthless laughed bubbled up out of Asami. “Heh. No. You could say that Lau definitely took it personally. He’s had it out for me ever since, and does his best to convince the rest of the school to join in. He’s got half of them convinced I’m the Anti Christ, I’m sure.”

Korra sat forward in anger, slamming her hand down on the couch, “That’s not fair! Your dad is the one that sunk Cabbage Corps, not you, and he wouldn’t have been able to do it if Lau’s dad didn’t try to rip everyone off with crappy products anyway!”

Asami crossed her arms, “You’re preaching to the choir here, Korra. There’s really nothing I can do about it, though. I wasn’t really beloved before that happened, either, so after that whole fiasco, I’ve just been trying to keep my head down.”

Before Korra could respond, they heard the front door open.

“Dad?” Asami stood up and peered out into the entrance hall. She hadn’t actually laid eyes on her father in three days. He was working late at the factory every night, and Asami had suspicions that he might’ve been spending the nights in his office.

Hiroshi jumped and looked up at Asami like a child caught doing something he shouldn’t. His clothes were disheveled and the bags under his eyes were so purple they looked almost black. 

“Oh, Asami. Hi honey, I just came back to grab some blueprints that I forgot.”

Asami walked around the couch and hugged her dad hello. He was tense at first, but he relaxed and put his arms around her after a second. His unshaven face scratched against her cheek, but she didn’t mind. She was just happy to see him.

She pulled back and gestured to Korra, who’d wandered up behind her. “Dad, this is Korra. She just moved here from the Southern Water Tribe and is staying with Councilman Tenzin’s family. Asami thought she saw Hiroshi’s eyes narrow when she said Tenzin’s name, but it must’ve just been a trick of the light. He offered his hand for Korra to shake.

“Hey, Mr. Sato. It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’ve heard about all the amazing things you’ve done for the city.”

“It’s nice to meet you as well Korra, and thank you. Send my regards to Tenzin and Pema. I’m sorry I can’t stick around any longer girls, but a new prototype is being released to the board tomorrow, so I’m going to have another late night.”

But, wait, Asami chewed on her lip, trying to think. “Dad, I checked the company server yesterday because I was wondering what’s been keeping you so busy lately. It didn’t say anything about a prototype meeting.”

Hiroshi’s face paled, “Uh, yes, it’s a very last minute thing, that’s why I’ve been scrambling. Now if you girls will excuse me,” He gently pushed past Asami and quickly ascended the stairs to his office.

Korra put her hands on her hips. “Well that was interesting… your dad sounds like a pretty busy guy.” 

Asami didn’t answer. This didn’t make sense. Prototype meetings were never last minute things. The board needed to approve models for production before anything could move forward, so the engineers did everything they could to be prepared and successful going into them. Her dad was lying, she was sure of it, but why?

She barely noticed the hum of another car engine pulling up outside. Korra sighed, “That’s Tenzin.” She walked over and gave Asami a hug that jolted her out of her musings. “What? Oh, shoot, we didn’t get to finish the movie. Another time?”

Korra nodded and gave her the crooked grin that Asami was starting to love. “For sure, I want to know what your favorite part is. I want to go back to the Wilds and explore more, too!”

A horn sounded outside and both of them jumped. Asami giggled and pushed Korra towards the door. “Don’t make him wait any longer or he won’t let you come again. I’ll see you tomorrow at school. Please don’t punch anyone this time.”

Korra threw her a wave over her shoulder and walked out the front door. “No promises! And thanks for the spaghetti!”

Asami shut the door behind her and leaned her back against it, trying to get her smile under control, all thoughts of her dad effectively pushed out of her head. Even though she was indeed totally fucked, she had to mention that it felt really, really good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm assuming you're all used to my shoddy updating nonschedule by now so I'm just going to stop apologizing. It is what it is. Because some people were wondering, I got offered the internship that I really wanted and everything's going well!
> 
> Anyway, so yeah, this chapter was supposed to be just dinner and a movie at asami’s place, but the girls decided they wanted to take a ride and talk about Asami’s mom. Honestly, I have no control over them whatsoever; they do exactly what they want to do. I don’t know how any writers ever get any plot things done.


	9. Asami Tries to Read Shakespeare and Korra Shows Off the Guns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra and Asami try to find their place in the scheme of Republic City High, and Korra barely resists strangling Mako.

Asami’s face was pressed so close to the window that her breath was clouding the glass. She scrubbed across the condensation with the back of her hand and leaned even closer to rest her forehead against the glass. It was barely 5AM, so the air outside was cool, and the glass felt good against her skin. She tried to concentrate on the feeling, willing herself to stay awake.

Her dad had come back somewhere between one and two in the morning. The growl of his car engine and the quiet click of the front door woke her. She knew he was bound to leave again, so she’d crept up the stairs to the highest part of their house. The attic was a renovated housekeeper’s quarters, but Hiroshi had long since let nearly all of their hired help go and the only people who still ghosted around the empty house were Asami and an amicable but cold man who cooked meals every other weekday. 

“This is stupid,” she muttered to herself, but didn’t move from her kneeling position at the window. She had to make sure. 

A door swung open with an audible creak downstairs. Asami froze, the muscles in her arms clenching of their own accord. She could hear her dad’s footsteps clunking down the hallway a floor down from her. She continued to listen as he walked downstairs, bypassed the kitchen, and let himself into their spacious garage.

This was it, the moment she’d been waiting for all night. She lifted up and focused on the road in front of their house. From her vantage point, and the positioning of the house on some of the highest ground in the city, she could see most of the roads and highways twisting around each other and branching out into the different sectors and neighborhoods, like the arteries and veins of the city. Asami could even see the busy twinkling of the Future Industries tower and workshops to the north. The tower that she desperately hoped her dad was about to drive towards. 

Because if he drove to the tower, that means he was going to work, and that means he was telling the truth all the times he said he was working late or fixing some important prototype. It would mean the knot in Asami’s stomach that insisted something was off could finally loosen and let her sleep.

Hiroshi’s sleek black Satomobile slid out of their garage and snarled down the street. Asami fixated her eyes on the familiar taillights, not breaking her focus even to blink. She watched as her father drove past his usual onramp onto the main highway and moaned softly as he turned down an unfamiliar road. She lost sight of his car when he turned down a smaller street towards the warehouse district and the wharfs near the harbor. 

Her eyes were burning from their efforts and she let them shudder closed. The sharp noise of her open palm striking the window echoed around the empty room.

\- - - - - - - - -   
Asami was sleepy. Korra scooted her chair, making an obnoxious noise in an attempt to rouse her friend. Asami’s head jerked from where it had been nodding against her hand but she just slumped farther forward instead of trying to pay attention.

As it turned out, Korra and Asami actually shared a few classes, when Asami wasn’t busy skipping hers. Right now they were in some sort of advanced literature class that Korra wasn’t sure she was qualified for. Back home there were only 7 kids in her entire class and one teacher for most of the subjects, so it was a pretty loose schooling system where they got to have a say in their curriculum and got to push a little bit about focusing on subjects they were really interested in.

Republic City High was an entirely different universe. Korra had no clue how many people were in here class, but she was fairly sure the school was more populated then most of the villages near where she lived. It was actually a huge stroke of luck that she and Asami had even one class together. 

Korra was keeping a close eye on Asami and their classmates, but so far nobody had caused any trouble. She hadn’t seen Lau or his cronies yet today. But, nobody besides her bothered to talk or even smile at Asami. It hadn’t been hard to secure a seat behind her. There was a small flame of anger that Korra was carrying in her chest and every time she saw Asami snubbed by a classmate, it flickered higher and higher. If no one else wanted to give Asami a chance, Korra was just going to have to make sure Asami knew she had at least one person’s support.

That support included leaning forward and jabbing Asami in the ribs before her mid-class nap became obvious to the teacher. Asami startled and whipped around to give her a drowsy glare. It was absolutely adorable, but Korra could only respond by sticking her tongue out because the teacher seemed to be done droning about Emily Dickinson or Shakespeare or something and was imploring them to open up their textbooks.

“Please read Act 1 of _Othello_ quietly to yourselves. We’ll reconvene and discuss imagery and themes in twenty minutes.”

Korra raised her hand, “Um, excuse me Mrs… erm-”

“Mrs. Haig.”

“Oh, yeah. Mrs. Haig. I wasn’t given a textbook.”

Mrs. Haig sighed and ran a hand through her short curly hair. She was a young woman but she had deep lines around her mouth and her hair was already turning grey. Korra didn’t really blame her. Asami wasn’t the only kid in the class trying to catch up on some sleep, and everyone else was on the opposite side of the energy spectrum. She was pretty sure the two boys in the back row were either wrestling or having inappropriate relations.

“I’m sorry, Korra. I don’t have any extras; I’ll have to check the storage room after school today and see if I can dig up one for class tomorrow. For today you’ll just have to share with a neighbor.”

Korra flashed a smile, hoping to reassure the hassled woman, and the ‘ok’ symbol with her thumb and forefinger and immediately slid her chair up next to Asami’s. She ignored her classmates’ incredulous looks at her choice of a partner.

“Don’t fall asleep on me again, Sato. We’ve got a play to read.”

Asami gave her a small smile but she looked unhappy about something and she was searching around in her backpack. After a moment, she pulled out a slim case. She fiddled uneasily with the reading glasses it contained, obviously embarrassed about having to put them on.

Korra’s heart leapt happily in her chest at the opportunity to ease some of Asami’s social anxieties. 

“Oh yeah, thanks for the reminder!” Korra reached back and dug around in her backpack, “Mom’s always bugging me to wear mine more often.” She triumphantly held up her own pair of glasses. Where Asami’s were framed in a thin, elegant gold wiring, Korra’s were made of blue chunky plastic and never seemed to fit her face quite right. She didn’t care, though, she was happy to take the spotlight off of Asami, even if everyones' attention was only in her head.

Korra pushed her glasses up her nose and pulled a funny face, making Asami bark out a loud, gleeful laugh. Korra felt like she was glowing with pride, and possibly a little bit of ‘I told you so’ directed at the other kids in the room, most of whom were watching their interaction with disbelief. 

“Oi, I dunno about your culture, but in mine it’s impolite to stare,” Korra huffed at them. A few boys snickered, but most of their classmates sheepishly looked away. _That’s right, show them who’s boss_ , Korra thought. But, more importantly, show them that they were missing out on this wonderful girl just because they believed some silly rumors and refused to give her a chance.

“And in my classroom, we read _Othello_ when the teacher says so,” Mrs. Haig said sternly, but Korra thought she saw a flicker of humor dancing in her tired eyes.

When she turned back to Asami, she had her glasses on and her textbook opened and pushed over to the edge of her desk so Korra could see. She didn’t feel much like reading, though. She’d much rather memorize the way Asami’s glasses rested on her high cheekbones and the feeling of the angry flame in her chest suddenly turning into a sparkler. Even the dark crescents beneath Asami’s eyes were striking. The purple bruising served to accentuate her green eyes even more than normal.

Korra squirmed in her seat, and her mind shot to her and Jinora’s conversation last night. _Oh gods, oh gods was this what she was talking about? Do I feel different? Am I acting different? Do I like girls-do I like Asa-_

“Korra?” Asami waved her hand in front of Korra’s face, making her jump. Korra smacked a hand over her cheeks, trying to hide the goofy blush that was probably spreading across her face, and knocked her glasses askew in the process.

“Gah! Sorry, sorry, I was spacing out,” Korra sputtered, but suddenly, Asami’s hands were reaching up and gently pushing her glasses straight. Korra sat still while she did so and gave up on trying to cover her blush. Instead, she pawed at the back of her neck, flustered.

“Thanks. Lets, uh, get to reading, shall we?”

“Dork. How about you read it, and then whisper to me what it’s actually talking about in normal English.”

Korra rolled her eyes, finally feeling nerves settle. This was just Asami, after all. The girl who’d gotten slobbered on by her dog and accidentally dripped spaghetti sauce all over Korra’s toes yesterday. She needed to stop acting like a preteen at a One Direction concert (though, it was well known that Korra like, lowkey really loved One Direction) and get her shit together. 

“You’re the supposed genius here, I don’t even understand the first sentence of this stuff.”

Asami shrugged and turned the book in her direction. She tucked her hair behind her ears with both hands and adjusted her glasses. Korra unconsciously bit her lip and completely lost her train of thought. Thankfully, Asami seemed to be keeping up her end of the conversation, though her jovial mood seemed slightly forced and Korra could sense an undercurrent of troubled emotion in her friend.

“Umm, if this was an car manual or an engineering textbook I might be able to show off my genuine, not supposed, genius skills,” she teased with what Korra now recognized as a false lightness, “But no, I don’t really think that they apply to Shakespeare.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Korra said, filing away a reminder to check in with Asami for real when they had some alone time. But for now, she patted her shoulder and said, “This school is full of idiots, I’m sure we’re not the only ones who are confused.”

\- - - - - - - - 

After she and Korra grabbed their lunch trays, Asami automatically started heading towards the door, intending to go to the shop room where she usually ate lunch and tinkered with whatever was on hand. Korra, not noticing, walked in the opposite direction and plunged directly into the thick of the lunchtime crowd. 

Asami took a deep, steadying breath and quickly ducked in after her her, sticking tight to her heels so she didn’t get separated. She didn’t know where Korra was planning on going, but then she heard a voice call out over the din.

“Korra! Over here!”

Asami didn’t really recognize the voice but once they got out of the lunch line crowd, she saw a thickset boy with black curly hair waving both his arms at Korra. Then she recognized Mako sitting next to him and stopped walking. The boy who must’ve been Mako’s brother saw her at the same moment, and his waving arms faltered. Korra followed his gaze to her and frowned.

“This is my friend, Asami. You got a problem, Bolin?” The boy squeaked and shook his head, “No, not at all! Come sit down guys, we’ve got plenty of room.” Asami ignored him and kept her eyes on Mako. His head was cocked slightly as he scanned her. His face was tight and he looked wary but eventually his eyes flicked back up to hers and he nodded once. 

Asami sat down next to Korra, not yet trusting Mako or Bolin. But in addition to her usual social uneasiness, a new emotion was shoving its way into her presence. Anger. She was mad that she felt like she needed Mako’s permission to sit down at a damn lunch table. He wasn’t better than her. Though, she supposed she wasn’t better than him either; people thinking that way was what had gotten this whole messed up thing started in the first place.

Korra seemed to sense her tension and moved her elbow so it was resting steadily against Asami’s own. Even that small touch let a little tension leak out of her and she sighed. She couldn’t even be excited about Korra’s touch. Between what she'd witnessed that morning and Mako’s standoffish behavior right now, Asami had enough emotions battling through her head without worrying about her feelings for her endearing friend.

Bolin also seemed to be aware of the tense energy around the table, and he tried to fill the silence, “So uh, I know Korra can play guitar, how about you Asami? Do you play any instruments?”

Before Asami could answer, Mako spoke up, “She probably plays piano; all rich people pay for piano lessons.” 

She felt Korra snarl beside her, but Asami squished down her own anger and spoke before Korra could, “Actually, no, I suck at piano. But if you want me to fix your car or something, I’m pretty good at that.” The urge to release her newfound anger on Mako was still there, but attempting to make people see past her unfair stereotype took precedence.

Mako’s weird eyebrows pricked up, but he fell back into a scowl. “Bolin and I have been in foster care since we were little kids, you think we can afford a car?”

Asami’s stomach bottomed out. She may not have embodied the snooty rich bitch that Lau had painted of her to her peers, but the fact still stood that she did have money, and it was apparent that Mako and Bolin did not. 

Bolin flinched, “Mako, jeez…”

Korra wasn’t handling Mako’s attitude well either. Her fists were clenched and Asami could feel her trembling.

“You wanna chill the fuck out, dude?" Korra burst out, "How was Asami supposed to know that? We’re just trying to be friendly and eat some lunch, so how about you drop the act.”

Bolin actually whimpered as he looked back and forth between Korra and Mako. He caught Asami’s eye and mouthed a ‘sorry’ at her. She shrugged back, but managed to offer him a small smile. When Asami looked at Mako again, he seemed to have relaxed a bit. He noticed her looking and sighed before holding out his hand.

“I shouldn’t have jumped down your throat, I’m sorry about that. I’ve heard a lot of shit, though, you know?”

Korra tsked angrily and Asami rolled her eyes, but she reached out and shook his hand.

“Seems like everyone has. I didn’t mean to, uh, insinuate anything about your situation, I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

Korra was still scowling next to her, but Bolin grinned and clapped his hands. “Yay! No more fighting please. Korra you should totally come play with me again, Mako too! And Asami, I know someone who has a busted amp and an old guitar, maybe we could buy them and you could fix them up for Korra? If she doesn’t that stuff already?”

Mako cuffed his brother on the shoulder, “Bolin! You can’t just ask her to buy stuff for us!”

“That’s not what I meant! I just thought we could rock out together or something, sheesh don’t hit me!”

Korra finally unclenched her fists and snickered at the brothers’ interaction.

“Nah, I definitely don’t own an amp, and all I have is my trusty acoustic. But we may not have the chance to play anyways, the City Council is thinking of setting a curfew because of what happened this morning.”

Asami sucked in a breath. The knot in her stomach from the attic that morning throbbed sickeningly. Did this have anything to do with her dad?

“What’s going on?” Mako asked.

“Two Triad gang members were killed.”

Bolin shrugged, “I mean, yeah that’s awful, but aren’t gang members always being shot and stuff? Why does that warrant a curfew?”

Korra’s eyebrows pulled together and she rested her cheek in her hand thoughtfully. “Normally it wouldn’t, except these guys were killed in a restaurant the Triad owns, with a small bomb. There were only a few customers and none of them were injured too badly, but they definitely could have been.”

Asami paled and Mako whispered, “Gods…”

“That’s not all. Guess who took credit for it?”

“The Equalists,” Asami murmured. The gang who’s self proclaimed mission it was to be the gang to end all gangs. They wanted to ‘remove the trash from the city’s gutters’ as their leader had so finely put it a few weeks ago in a message sent to news stations around the city. 

“They’ve never put citizens in danger before, though. Why now?” Bolin asked.

Korra shook her head, “I’m not sure but Tenzin thought it might be that their weapons tech is increasing. Before they just had the run of the mill guns and knives, normal gang shit. But if they have bombs now, they’ve upgraded to being a full on attack force. There’s no reason they shouldn’t start rooting out the gangs at their moneymaking sources.”

“Why do you know so much about this?” Mako asked, his food tray forgotten in front of them. Asami hadn’t even touched her own lunch, but Korra had managed to eat both of her low-grade cheeseburgers and half her French fries without Asami noticing. She could really put it away.

“Politician in training,” Korra grinned cockily and flexed her arm, pointing her thumb at herself. The somber mood hovering over the table broke and Bolin oohed over Korra’s biceps. He shoved up his own shirtsleeve and flexed his own admittedly well-defined arms.

“Nice, but take this!”

“Oh yeah? Bam!” Korra leaned over the table and whipped up her other arm. 

Asami briefly made eye contact with a very embarrassed Mako before he buried his face in his hands, groaning something about idiot brothers. For her part, Asami was feeling pretty hot and tingly. Korra and Bolin’s antics and Korra’s fucking beautiful arms served to wipe away the thoughts of gangs and bombs from her mind for at least the rest of the lunch period.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What up my friends? How have you guys been?
> 
> I know Asami and reading glasses is a common headcanon, one that I obviously share, but this guy at my internship has these amazingly obnoxious blue plastic glasses and I just had to give them to Korra. She can rock the hipster tomboy look, no?
> 
> I've never really been a huge Mako fan, unless he's interacting with his brother, then it's a different story. Brothers, man, I just love 'em. This story was supposed to be silly fluff without a plot but we all know I lost control of this thing 5 chapters ago.
> 
> SimplyKorra recommending my fic in a post of hers kicked my butt into finishing up this chapter, so you can thank her for that. Reviews make me write faster wink wink nudge nudge ;)
> 
> (this isn't proofread at all i'm so sorry forgive my typos)


	10. Bolin is a Cinnamon Roll and Everything Else Sucks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bolin shows off his friendship skills and Hiroshi wins the Disappointing Dad of the Year award.

“You’re so cute, aren’t you, buddy,” Bolin gushed as he bounced Rohan on his knee, “How did you get such a cute brother Korra?”

Korra rolled her eyes and stuck her foot in Bolin’s face, the only way she could reach him from her position on the floor. Bolin and a burbling Rohan were sprawled on her bed, using Naga as a pillow.

“How many times do I have to tell you? I’m not related to anyone who lives in this house! Or this country, actually.”

“Gah, knock it off,” Bolin sputtered, trying to knock her foot out of his face with one hand, and hold Rohan securely against his chest with the other. “You don’t have to be blood siblings for him to be your brother.”

Korra couldn’t hold back her smile, so she covered it with an eye roll and some snark, “Sure, you go on and ask Tenzin if he can handle anymore kids and see what he says. Meelo chewed a hole in the living room wall yesterday. A hole. Through the drywall. With his teeth.”

Bolin barked out a laugh but waved her words away, “Korra, I’ve only been over here a couple of times, and even I can see that the man loves the hell out of you.”

Korra could feel her face starting to warm, “Ah, shut up. Everyone loves me, duh.”

Over the last couple of weeks, she’d settled happily into a lighthearted dynamic with Bolin. They’d bonded quickly over their goofy personalities, but the main reason Korra was fond of the boy was because of the way he treated Asami. At first glance, they were an unlikely duo, but with Korra nudging him onward, he’d begun to steadily worm his way past Asami’s walls. 

Just yesterday, she’d been late to lunch, and when she rushed in, worried about how Asami was faring on her own, she’d found her hunched over in her usual spot at their table, laughing so hard at something on Bolin’s phone, she was starting to cry. Bolin was giggling along with her, flipping through the pictures and trying to stop laughing long enough to explain what his intentions were when he dressed up his pet ferret with doll clothes.

Korra smiled fondly at the memory. Even though Mako was still a little standoffish at times, Korra enjoyed getting him riled up, and she knew that he wasn’t ever actually mad. She secretly expected that he liked their bickering just as much as she did. Korra knew that Asami liked him too, despite their tense introductions a few weeks ago. Korra expected that between her and the boys, Asami was feeling safer and happier during school hours, or at least she hoped she was.

Above her, Bolin buried his face in Rohan’s little tummy and was trying to blow raspberries. The baby was squealing with delight and Naga’s tail was wooshing back and forth, narrowly avoiding the back of Bolin’s head with each pass. Korra watched them play and let her thoughts wander.

More often than not, her mind turned to Asami, and now was no exception. The squirmy feelings she got when she was around her hadn’t calmed down. In fact, all Asami had to do was smile at her now and Korra instantly felt invincible, like she could punch a hole in the moon.

Whenever Jinora tried to bring up Asami, Korra shut her down. Thinking about her feelings was scary, and Korra was hopelessly confused. She hadn’t had many female friends back home, so how was she supposed to know what was platonic and what wasn’t?

“Yo, Bolin, what does it feel like when you like a girl?” Oh spirits, had she said that out loud? Why why why why-

Bolin’s head shot up, “Uh, what?”

Korra rolled on to her stomach and covered her head with her arms. She was tempted to keep on rolling right underneath her bed.

“Nothing, never mind, stupid question.”

Bolin carefully set down Rohan and leaned over the edge of the bed, tugging at her arms. “Korra, it’s fine, I’ll tell you! You just surprised me.”

Korra groaned wordlessly and refused to look at him. Bolin patted her arm reassuringly.

“Hmm, ok let’s see. Actually, how do you know I even like girls anyway? You shouldn’t just assume things like that.” Korra finally peered out from underneath her arms at him. He looked proud of himself that he managed to pull her out of hiding, but there was also kindness etched in every line of his face, and Korra knew he was trying set her fears at ease. In that moment, she was filled with an earnest love for her friend. Republic City had this way about it that made her fall for new people so quickly, in all sorts of ways. Bolin was no exception.

“But no, you’re right, I do primarily like girls, so far at least,” he winked and Korra swatted at him. 

Bolin ignored her feeble attack and pushed forward, “First, when I’m starting to like someone, I feel an urge to spend time with her. It’s like I’m a big Bolin-shaped sponge; I want to soak up everything there is to know about her. I feel good when I’m around her. I usually feel like showing off to prove how awesome I am.”

Korra was listening intently, her embarrassment forgotten for now. “But how do you separate those feelings from platonic friendly feelings? Like, how do you _know_?”

Bolin laughed, though not unkindly, at her intense tone. “Well, I usually don’t want to kiss people I’m just friends with. But, that’s just me. There’s a lot differences between romantic and sexual attraction, and they don’t necessarily go hand in hand,” He stroked his chin thoughtfully, “For me, though, I guess that’s one of the easiest ways of knowing. Do I want to kiss this person, or not?”

Korra rolled over on her back and stared thoughtfully up at the ceiling. She thought of Asami, and the way she’d tuck her hair behind her ears when she was trying to focus on something. She thought of the way her nose crinkled when Korra made her laugh really, really hard and how green her eyes had been in the Wilds. Korra imagined running her thumb over Asami’s bottom lip and how it would feel to lean in and- “Shit.” Korra slammed her hands over her face, “Shit, shit, shit.” 

She felt tingly and squirmy and _hot_. Her heart was thrumming and there was a suspicious feeling down south that Korra didn’t even want to begin to dwell on at the moment.

Bolin’s gleeful laugh sounded kind of maniacal. Korra felt him slide off the bed and then a wiggling Rohan was plopped onto her chest, forcing her to take her hands off her face and steady him. Bolin was leaning over her, his face far too close for how hot she was feeling. 

“Asami, huh. You know, I wouldn’t have guessed, but it does seem kind of obvious now.”

Korra rolled onto her side, taking Rohan with her. She curled herself around him and buried her face in his tiny belly. He smelled like baby powder and milk and he didn’t even squirm, just let her breathe in, and fisted his fingers in her hair while she did. Her throat felt too thick and she couldn’t swallow.

Bolin, sensing that she wasn’t in the mood for teasing, settled down next to her in a cross-legged position leaning against the bed. His hand settled on her shoulder and it steadied her enough that she was able to pull herself up beside him. 

“What’s wrong?”

Korra chewed on her lip, trying to sort out her emotions long enough so that she could answer, but the lump in her throat was choking her. She scrubbed her hand roughly across her eyes, trying to discourage any tears from falling.

“I dunno, I guess I’m just scared. Like, I know its-its ok for girls to like girls, I _know_ that, but it’s different when it’s… me. You know? The people in my life, my family, they have this idea of me and suddenly this happens, and now that idea is wrong, it doesn’t match up,” Korra sucked in deep breath, ignored how it hitched at the end, “what if they don’t like this new idea as much as the old one?”

She’d learned that Bolin liked to blurt out his feelings as fast as he felt them, so it was mildly surprising when he sat thoughtfully with his thumb over his lips for a few moments before answering.

“I think it’s ok to be afraid. But I also think that you have to have faith in the people that love you. They might be scared, the same way you are now, and they might have to take some time to get used to the ‘new’ you, but Korra, the way you talk about your parents, what I’ve witnessed from Tenzin’s family… you have good people in your life.” He slung an arm around her shoulders and pulled her tight against him, “And, I know we haven’t been friends for very long, but you know Mako and I always have your back, right?”

Korra was suddenly really glad that Mako had his class officers meeting today. Bolin’s older brother was a good person, even Korra had to grudgingly admit it by now, but she would have shriveled up and died from embarrassment twenty minutes ago if Mako had been present for this whole conversation. Even though it was just Bolin and Rohan with her, she still felt self-conscious, but at least it was in a warm, loved kind of way this time.

She turned and hugged Bolin as well as she could without jostling Rohan. “Thanks, Bo,” she choked out. She felt him smile against her head.

“No problem, dude. But hey… Asami, though huh?” Korra barked out a watery laugh and pushed his head away.

“Of course it’s Asami, Rocks-for-brains, who else would it be?”

Bolin ignored her insults and just kept smiling like the happy idiot he was, “That’s awesome, Asami is amazing and sooooo pretty!”

“Isn’t she though,” Korra sighed. She let her head fall back against the bed frame with a thud. She wished Asami had come over, but she understood that Asami needed some alone time just as much as anyone else. Maybe more; Korra was learning that Asami was a quintessential introvert at her core. She liked to escape into her own head, tinkering with things or curling up in a stairwell or window nook with her sketchbook. 

She was usually cool with Korra hanging around, as long as she let her work in relative quiet, but today she said she had some stuff to do with her dad and Korra hadn’t put up a fuss about it.

A honk from outside startled her out of her thoughts and Bolin jumped up with a whoop, startling both Rohan and Naga, the latter of which jumped off the bed and rammed her head into his hip, demanding to know what was happening.

He ruffled Naga’s ears, “Lin and Mako are here!”

Lin, where had Korra heard that name before? She frowned, trying to remember, and climbed to her feet. She settled Rohan against her hip and tried to avoid a dancing, still barking Naga.

“Lin who?” She called over the din. “Hush Naga, you’re louder than Meelo and Ikki combined!”

“Beifong! She’s Chief of Police here,” Bolin said and began herding Naga out of Korra’s room and down the stairs. Korra followed, slightly in awe. She knew the Chief, or at least knew of her. She was Republic City’s famous hard ass, and an absolute beast at her job, or so she’d been told. 

“Did Mako get arrested? What’s going on?” All the excitement finally got to Rohan, and he started bawling, so Korra dropped him off in his crib before thundering down the stairs after Bolin.

Bolin slung his backpack over his shoulders and laughed, “Ha! No, Mako’s way too uptight to get arrested, you know that. Lin’s our foster mom!”

“Holy shit, how the hell did that happen?” Bolin started to answer, but the car outside honked again and he shook his head, “A story for another time. Oh, and hey, if you want to talk anymore about the Asami thing, I’m just a short phone call away, ok?”

Korra nodded and shooed him into the entryway, “I know you are, now get outta here before the Chief decides bust down my door.”

He waved as he walked down the sidewalk. When Korra closed the door, the house seemed too big, like it was missing some of its integral parts. Which, it was, she supposed. Tenzin was still at work and Pema was at the older kids’ parent teacher conferences. It was just her, babysitting Rohan and her dog. A powerful desire for Bolin to stay suddenly hit her in the gut, but he was already long gone, hurtling down the highway into the city, away from Korra.

An uneasiness swept through Korra and she resisted the urge to pull out her phone and text Asami. She wasn’t a clingy person, never had been, so she didn’t understand why she was so achy for her friends’ presences.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe it’s the whole, ‘I’m suddenly not straight and my life has been a lie’ thing, huh?” Korra grumbled to herself, “I think that’s an excuse to be a little unsettled, don’t you, Naga?”

Naga didn’t answer, she was too busy scooting around on her stomach, trying to lick under the cupboards to reach the last of the cheerios Ikki had spilled that morning at breakfast.

Korra sighed. “You’re cool with it though, right girl? You like Asami, you’d be okay with me kissing her?” She paused, “Well, I guess this rather one-sided conversation hinges on the assumption that I’m going to tell Asami at some point in the future, or that she’s going to like me back- or even if she likes girls at all in the first place!” 

She rubbed her hands down her face, tugging on the bottoms of her eyelids. “Spirits, this is insane. I’m done; I’m never going to even think about this again. I shouldn’t have even told Bolin-” Her slightly hysterical rant was interrupted by her phone buzzing in her pocket. Korra fumbled trying to pull it out, and just barely managed to catch it before it clattered to the floor.

She tried to compose herself before answering, but still stuttered despite her best efforts, “H-hey Asami. What’s up?”  
\------------

Asami’s butt was starting to hurt. She huffed into the darkness and readjusted, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees. She’d been in the garage for hours, or at least long enough for the sun to dip below the skyline and throw the room into cloudy shadows.

She didn’t really know why she was still there, other than it was Friday night and this was where she was supposed to be on Friday nights. Of course, her dad was supposed to be here too, but over the last few months, that’d become a moot point.

Her fingers traced the hubcap of their project, what used to be Asami’s favorite thing. The car was supposed to be her graduation present, but since Hiroshi stopped coming home, it sat idle under a sheet like a shameful, half-finished skeleton. Friday nights were supposed to the sounds of power tools, and debating designs and sketching out plans for the parts they wanted to add. This car was built from scratch, no previous existing model except the one inside Asami’s head, the one Hiroshi had promised her he’d help shape into a reality. A promise that apparently didn’t matter anymore, because it was Friday, and just like last Friday, her dad wasn’t here.

It was only when Asami hiccupped that she realized she was crying. She rose to her feet and angrily dashed away her tears. If Hiroshi didn’t have the decency to even show up, then he didn’t deserve any of this. She was going to stop waiting for a man who wasn’t going to come. Asami gulped down one last sob and tugged her phone out of her jacket.

When Korra answered, her voice sounded weird and shaky, so different from her usual blustering ‘too loud to be an indoor voice’ tone that a spike of worry instantly pricked at Asami’s chest.

“Are you okay?”

“Are _you_ okay? You sound funny,” Korra asked, somewhat warily.

“You’re the one who sounds funny,” Asami replied, and then she had to let out out a strangled chuckle at the absurdity of their exchange. When Korra just shuffled on the other end of the line instead of replying, Asami’s stomach dropped. She shouldn’t have called, she was obviously bugging her, and something was wrong but Korra wouldn’t admit it.

“Never mind, I shouldn’t have call-”

“Can you come over?” Korra’s request drowned out the rest of her awkward escape plan, and Asami was grateful. “Shoot, you’re with your dad, aren’t you, I’m sorr-”

Now it was Asami’s turn to interrupt, “No worries, I’ll come now.” 

\------------

There was a lot of traffic, causing Asami to pull up to Korra’s house later then she would have liked. But, as she parked her moped on the street, she saw Naga’s head bouncing in the window and she couldn’t help but feel like she was being welcomed into a place that felt a lot more like home then her actual house.

When she let herself in the front door and wandered into the kitchen, she found Korra dancing around with a spoonful of orange gunk, attempting to feed Rohan. The sight of Korra trying her hardest to get the baby to open his mouth eased the worried knot in her stomach a little bit.

Korra looked up and saw her and instantly set down the baby food and crossed the kitchen in three great strides. She grabbed Asami and hugged her tightly, burying her face in the crook of Asami’s neck.  
“Hey, hey, Korra, what’s wrong?” Korra just let out a little puff of air and nuzzled in even closer, so Asami gently rocked them in a slow circle and held onto Korra just as tightly. The awful, gnawing ache that her dad absence had left crumbled away under the soft lighting of Pema’s kitchen, with Naga nudging at her hip and Korra’s hair tickling her nose. She was loved, maybe not in exactly the ways she’d hoped for or by the people she originally expected, but she wasn’t alone, and neither was Korra.

Asami wasn’t sure how long they stood for, but eventually she felt Korra go loose in her arms. She stepped back and held Korra at an arm’s length, taking a moment to look her over. Her shaggy hair was tousled and sticking up in the front from being pressed against Asami’s shoulder and that combined with a wispy version of Korra’s crooked grin made Asami instantly melt. Seriously, she actually thought she might be melting; her skin was warm all over and her knees felt like their sockets where made of jelly instead of their usual dependable bone and muscle.

Her gaze swooped down the rest of Korra, noting a typical loose tank top, this time branded with some obscure band logo, and then, Asami broke into giggles. Korra tossed her hair, mock offended, “Excuse me, you wouldn’t happen to be making fun of my joggers are you?”

“They’re purple! And they have planets on them!” Asami wheezed. She had to let go of Korra’s shoulders so she could lean her hands on her knees to try and catch her breath.

“Well they’re comfy! Sorry my outfits can’t be on point like yours all the time, I can’t exactly pull off the mechanic chic look like _some_ people.” Korra was trying to hold up her insulted performance, but Asami was absolutely losing it, and Korra wasn’t far behind.

“M-m-mechanic chic! Planets! HA!” Asami gave up and collapsed into a cackling mess.

“Stooop! Ow, my stomach, hahaha, Asami knock it off! Seriouslyyyy!”

Rohan squealed, catching the mood and started flinging his baby food into the air with the little erratic arm motions that babies were so good at. Naga appreciated his efforts, or at least was a fan of the baby food monsoon and she scrambled around the kitchen trying to catch the orange gook.

After their laughter subsided and Asami picked the baby food out of her hair, they settled down at the table.

“Rohan did you manage to eat any of that? Or did all of it just go onto Asami’s head?”

“Actually, I’m pretty sure Naga got caught in the cross fire too, or was her fur orange when I got here?”

Korra groaned, “Spirits, Naga can you go just one day without needing a bath? One freaking day? I wish Pema would get back already, she’s really late.”

Asami frowned, “Well, traffic was awful when I was driving here. I had to take the back roads because the highway was so locked up. She’s probably just been stuck in that.”

Korra nodded and looked down at her hands. Her previous low mood seemed to have returned. “You gonna tell me what’s bothering you?”

She visibly flinched. “It’s nothing, I’m just feeling down. Just a mood I’m in, I guess.”

“Really? If it’s something else, you can tell me, Korra.” Korra had never really kept things from her before and Asami was worried she’d done something wrong. Or maybe Korra had heard something about her dad and was hiding it from Asami- but no, that wasn’t possible. Her dad wasn’t doing anything wrong; nobody was looking at him at all. Asami struggled to ignore the voice whispering in the back of her head, _lying lying lying…_

Korra clenched her hand in an anxious fist and tapped her knuckles against the table as if trying to decide something. But then she sighed and shook her head, “Asami, I just, I can’t tell you right now, ok? But I’m fine, I promise. Everything is ok, I’m just working myself up over… nothing.” She flashed Asami a strained, but genuine smile. “I’ll tell you eventually, I promise.”

By now, Asami was thoroughly confused, but it was starting to look like Korra was the only person in the city she could trust right now, so she sure as hell wasn’t going to challenge her.

“Ok, Korra. Eventually, yeah?” 

“Eventually.”

Asami would never know if Korra was going to say more, because in the next moment, the door slammed open and Pema and a trio of unusually downcast children tromped in. Korra seemed to pick up on the atmosphere as well and jumped to her feet.

“Is something wrong?”

Pema pursed her lips. Her usually warm, soft face was drawn and there were lines in between her eyebrows that Asami had never noticed before. Jinora looked pale, and Ikki’s hand was fisted in the hem of her shirt, uncertain and quiet.

“There’s been another bombing. At least half a block downtown in the Triple Threat territory was destroyed.”

Korra’s hands were clenched so tight that the cords of her muscles stood out like they were carved from stone. She looked too upset to ask so Asami did for her, “The Equalists?”

Pema shooed her kids into the living room and Korra clucked at Naga to follow them. The dog obeyed and nosed gently into the small of Meelo’s back, making sure the boy kept up with his sisters. Pema walked over to Rohan and soothed a protective hand over the curve of his head.

“From what I heard on the radio, yes. The face of the group, the man who wears the mask supposedly already posted a video online taking credit for the attack.”

“Same old shit about cleaning out the city’s filth?” Korra spat. She was fuming and stalking back and forth across the floorboards like an angry lioness.

“Korra, language. But yes, it was a similar speech to the one before it.”

Asami sank down into a crouch, holding her head in her hands. Her dad didn’t show up today. He hadn’t been showing up for a long time. When he left, he wasn’t going to work. This was all adding up into something sickening, and for once in her life, Asami did not have any desire to solve the equation. 

“Oh spirits,” She whispered. She felt Korra crouch down next to her and wrap an arm around her shoulders. “Hey ‘Sams, it’s ok, your dad’s building wasn’t anywhere near the bombs. Neither was Tenzin’s. They’re both fine; your dad’s probably going to be waiting for you at home.”

Asami shuddered and sank further down into herself. 

“Can I stay here tonight?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hola friends! Both our ladies are panicking right now (for vastly different reasons, it seems like), and this story's starting to climb towards its climax. 
> 
> Hiroshi's dastardly leanings were never supposed to be a secret in this fic, my goal has been to write more of a character based exploration of Asami and how she chooses to deal with what's right in front of her face (because, come on, how did canon Asami not realize there was a giant Equalist factory right under her house? Instead of a split second decision to side with Korra and friends, what if it was a prolonged, awful realization? Muahaha!)
> 
> I find it easier to write scenes that don't take place in school, because despite what all the Disney channel shows depict, when I was in high school, I barely had time to make it to class, much less have adventures between periods. So I'm sorry, this might have started out as a fluffy high school hijinks fic, but gosh, it doesn't seem to want to end up as one.
> 
> I'm also a huge fan of a nice old-fashioned slow burn, so I hope it's not getting boring for you guys. Never fear, it's coming, I promise.


	11. Korra Has a Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami spills the beans and Korra's a true champ like always.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this one took so long, I actually had the motivation to write this time BUT I DROPPED MY LAPTOP AND SMASHED IT. I was able to transfer all my files, but not my programs, so I had to wait a few weeks to get Word again.
> 
> Anyway this was kind of a short one, so next chapter's going to have some action. Also, who knows maybe they'll actually go back to school at some point. (ps I was so antsy about getting this posted that it's really not proofread, so if you see any mistakes, feel free to let me know!)

Korra figured that sliding closer to the girl who’s been causing all her existential problems wasn’t the best idea, but she was chilly and Asami had stolen most of the covers hours ago. It was so late, neither one of them made a fuss about sharing a bed, a fact that Korra was infinitely thankful for, because spending the night on the floor wasn’t her idea of a good time.

They’d waited up with Pema until an unharmed but exhausted Tenzin got home, and then crashed unceremoniously into Korra’s bed. Asami was all long, skinny limbs and sharp elbows, so Korra wasn’t surprised that she didn’t seem to retain body heat as well as Korra. She’d given up the covers willingly enough, but now that her body had powered down into sleep mode, the breeze curling in over the open windowsill was stroking goose bumps up and down her arms.

Korra didn’t think that Asami was still sleeping, or that she had even fallen asleep in the first place. She drifted in and out of sleep, but Asami hadn’t relaxed since they’d gone to bed. Korra wasn’t egocentric enough to even entertain the idea that Asami’s tension had anything to do with her being uncomfortable about the bed situation, but with that idea scratched, she was at a loss.

Asami was laying flat on her back with her arms crossed behind her head, just staring up at the ceiling. Korra watched the taut muscles in her arms silently clench and release in some anxious pattern that was undecipherable to her.

The heavy grasp of sleep was laying so heavily over her that Korra couldn’t make her throat open to ask Asami what was wrong, so she just shifted so that her face was pressed up against Asami’s ribs. She tried to murmur something comforting, but her voice just buzzed in a soft hum while her sleep-clumsy fingers grasped the hem of Asami’s loose t-shirt.

Asami’s breath hitched, but then her hand came down and caressed the curve of Korra’s head. “Hush, everything’s fine; you’re okay. Go back to sleep.”

Korra wanted to speak up and say that yes, she was okay, she was pretty great actually, but sleep reared up and tugged her back down again. She fell asleep to the feeling of Asami’s fingertips ghosting across the shell of her ear and tracing patterns against her jawline.

The next time she woke, Asami was turned with her back to her, and she was shaking. Crying, Korra realized. She sat up and leaned over the other girl.

“Asami?” Korra tentatively placed her palm between Asami’s shoulder blades.

Asami flipped back over onto her back, but pressed the back of her forearm over her face so that Korra couldn’t see her eyes.

“Something’s wrong, Korra. I know it, something is really wrong,” She choked out.

Korra went rigid. “What’s wrong? Are you sick? I’ll get Pema,” she spluttered, but Asami grabbed her wrist before she could get up.

“I’m not sick, I’m just… it’s just-” Asami shook her head and let out a frustrated whine, like she couldn’t manage to pull the words past her lips.

Korra perched back on the edge of the bed, finally infected and trembling with the tension that’d been infusing Asami all night. She tugged at Asami’s arm. She let it fall without resistance, but wouldn’t meet Korra’s eyes.  
“It’s about my dad,” she finally whispered. Naga had finally been woken up by her restless bedmates and she licked tentatively at Asami’s cheek. She must’ve been really upset, Korra thought, because she didn’t even flinch away like she normally did. Instead, she just cupped Naga’s muzzle and held her close.

Korra huffed and then decisively clapped her hands together. All three of them winced at her unintentionally loud noise.

“Sorry,” she whispered, “But let’s go, we’re going to take a walk.”

Korra slid off the bed and padded over to her window. She wrestled silently with the frame for a few moments before she managed to yank it up and open. She turned and motioned for Asami to join her. Asami sniffed once before visibly composing herself. She flipped her hair out of her eyes and tugged one of Korra’s discarded hoodies over her head. Korra really hoped that it was clean. Some of those sweaters had been on the floor since she’d moved in.

On her way to the window, she pulled her leather jacket off the back of Korra’s desk chair. She held it out to Korra, whose stomach instantly flipped. She clenched her fingers over her abdomen without realizing it until Asami quirked at eyebrow at her. Korra shook herself out of her stupor and with a light blush dusting her cheeks, tucked Asami’s jacket under her arm and then hopped out the window. 

She steadied herself on the shingles of the roof over the porch that her room overlooked. Then, she grabbed Asami’s elbow to steady her as she climbed out. Naga poked her head out the window and let out a pitiful whine.

Korra shoved Naga’s head back inside as gently as she could. “Hush girl! You have to stay here and guard the house. Be good.” Naga’s answering whine was cut off as Korra slid the window closed. “That dog better not blow our cover,” she muttered to herself.

“Now what?” Asami murmured. She was crouched on the roof tiles with the hood of Korra’s sweatshirt pulled down low over her eyes. She looked like one of those assassins from that one video game Bolin liked to play. That is, if assassins were disheveled, visibly upset teenagers.

“Um, I’m not sure. I’ve never snuck out before, what kind of delinquent do you think I am?”

Korra didn’t wait around to see Asami’s reaction and instead tied Asami’s jacket around her waist, then gripped tightly to the gutter and swung her body over the edge of the roof in one smooth motion. Smooth until her swing carried her straight into one of the columns holding up the porch. Korra “oofed” as the wooden pole knocked the wind out of her and she lost her grip on the gutter.

Thankfully, Asami slid forward on her belly and managed to snag Korra’s wrists before she could fall.

Korra gazed up at Asami, struggling to catch her breath, “You can rule… the Pridelands… Scar, just please don’t kill me,” she huffed.

Asami rolled her eyes, though Korra swore her lips quirked into a small smile. She was obviously trying to humor her to make up for frightening her earlier.

“You’re only like three feet off the ground you dork. I’m going to let you go now, ok Mufasa? Long live the king.” Asami released her and Korra dropped to the ground in as graceful as a crouch as she could manage.

Korra hovered nervously as Asami swung herself down, carefully avoiding the pole. When Asami’s feet were finally safe on the ground, Korra allowed herself to look up at the moon. She wasn’t at all sure what time it was, but the sky was eerily clear and glowing like they were underwater and the moonlight was filtering down through the waves. A slow rolling breeze added to the feeling and Korra shivered.

Asami didn’t seem to be in an overly talkative move, so Korra wasn’t surprised when she just tugged on the sleeve of the jacket tied around her waist. Korra got the gist of it, and slid the worn leather over her arms. It was a little tight in the shoulders but the sleeves flopped long over her hands.

Korra frowned at this, “Am I really that much shorter than you?” She flapped her sleeve-covered arms in irritation. Asami stepped closer to her and took her hand, effectively ending her faux temper tantrum. Korra intertwined their fingers and started down the sidewalk.

The streetlamps offered warm, yellow oases of light every ten feet or so and the interlocking tree limbs over the street that usually formed a shady tunnel now offered a respite from the uneasy moonlight.

\- - - - - - 

Asami could feel herself relaxing slightly as they walked, but the secret she held tight in her chest throbbed and seemed to claw at the inside of her throat. She wanted to tell Korra, she really did, but Korra obviously had political responsibilities. What if she felt obligated to tell Tenzin, or even go to the police?

But Korra pulled her to a stop and just looked at her. They hovered on the soft edge of a circle of streetlight and Asami nervously toed the curb. Korra was waiting but she didn’t try to pull the truth from behind Asami’s teeth, she simply stood there and let Asami flounder in her big blue eyes. Asami felt an absurd urge to fist her hand in her own jacket, now zipped snugly up to Korra’s chin, and tug her upwards into a kiss.  
Instead, Asami rubbed the heels of her hands into her eyes and started to talk. She tried to explain her suspicions as clinically as possible, separating herself from emotional implications of her fears, but it just felt like she was clawing into her own ribcage and slowly pulling her lungs out into the open air. Asami was pretty sure she would’ve suffocated ages ago if Korra’s fingers weren’t wrapped around her own.

When Asami finally ran out of things to tell, ending with her father not showing up earlier that day, she felt like she was gasping for air. Korra tugged her hand out of Asami’s, and she thought she would die right then and there but Korra didn’t leave, instead she gently pressed down on Asami’s shoulders until she sat down on the curb. Then, she sat down cross-legged in the street. Her knees bumped up against Asami’s shins and as soon as she was settled, Korra immediately retook Asami’s hands in her own.

“Ok, let’s just think this through for a sec. Breathe Asami, would you? It’ll be ok, we will figure this out, I promise.”

Asami gulped in a shuddering breath. She had to regain control of herself. Freaking out wasn’t going to solve anything. Asami squeezed her eyes closed for a second, then steeled herself, a maneuver she’d become well-practiced in.

“I’m okay. But Korra, please be honest with me, all of this- my dad never coming home, swearing he’s working on projects that aren’t in the computer systems, not even bothering speak to me anymore, this is weird right?” Asami flinched, a crack in her resolve, but she shoved it back down. “I mean, he’s never been all that… warm towards me, but he’s never completely shut me out like this before. The last time I saw him, he looked like he hadn’t slept in days.”

Korra ducked her head and rubbed at her eyes, and Asami felt a twinge of guilt because Korra had been sleeping soundly before Asami woke her, but when Korra glanced up and saw Asami’s frown, she flashed her a crooked smile that Asami instinctively attempted to mirror back at her. It probably came out looking more like a grimace, but Asami tried.

“Your dad is acting strangely, there’s no doubt about that. But, I don’t think we have any actual evidence that he’s involved in any way with that Equalist gang.”

“But then where is he going? What’s he been doing?” Asami whispered. She hung her head. Korra was right, of course, there was nothing pointing to the Equalists except the sick, instinctual feeling in her gut.

_“Always trust your gut, kiddo,” her dad murmured. Asami felt his large, gloved hand caress the back of her head. Hiroshi’s hand dwarfed her, but she leaned into his fingers, liking how safe she felt under her father’s touch._

_Asami proudly held up the broken screw up for him to look at. “I knew something was banging around in there!”_

_Hiroshi chuckled and nodded. He set the small scooter engine they’d been working on aside. “You did, and you followed through. That’s how you succeed, Asami. I’m very proud of you.” Asami closed her eyes and let his words warm her. Her dad didn’t smile much anymore, but he was happy now, and she’d done that. She’d made him proud._

Asami shook herself roughly out of the memory. “God damnit, Dad,” she whispered, “What the hell are you doing?”

Like earlier, in the bedroom, Korra clapped her hands together. “Well, let’s not just sit here being all bummed out. We have to find out for sure what your dad’s been up do, so you can stop driving yourself crazy.”

“And how exactly are we going to do that?”

Korra shuffled and lifted herself up so she was sitting next to Asami on the curb. “Well, I was thinking while you were talking. The main question is, if your dad hasn’t been going to work, where _is_ he going? I mean, he could just have, I dunno, a lover or something that he doesn’t want you to know about.” Asami nodded along, though unconvinced.

“Yeah, anyway, so if something like that’s true then you’ve got nothing to worry about. So, we’re going to track him.”

“Korra, how are we going to do that? My moped isn’t exactly inconspicuous; it’s not like we can just follow him the next time he leaves.”

Korra tipped her chin up like she was proud of herself. “Find my Iphone!”

“What?”

Korra waved off her flat question. “No come on, hear me out. You have an Iphone, I assume your dad does too. When he leaves, just use your laptop to track his phone. Or, I don’t know exactly how it works or whatever, but you could even stash your own phone under the backseat of his car or something.”

Asami blinked, “Korra that’s… actually a really good idea. I know all our passwords, I’m sure I can activate the gps in Dad’s phone.” She bit her lip. This could actually work, as long as they could keep her dad in the dark about it.

Korra popped up to her feet and bounced excitedly on her toes. “Great! It’s settled then. Tomorrow’s Saturday, or today I guess- anyway, I’ll sleepover at your house and we’ll find out where he’s been going.”  
Asami allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. “Ok, let’s do it. First, though, in the morning I’ll go visit Future Industries second in command. He’s a good man. I’ll see if he knows what’s been going on with Dad. Maybe he’ll be able to clear everything up and all of this will be for nothing.”

Korra nodded and they started to walk back towards home. Asami felt uncomfortable under the open sky and she picked up their pace as they exited the tunnel of trees.

Asami had to stand on Korra’s shoulders in order to heave herself back up onto the porch’s roof, and then haul Korra up after her. They hadn’t thought out their reentry plan all that well, but Naga was waiting happily for them at the window so Korra declared it mostly a success.

Korra crawled under the covers first and then held them up for Asami to join her. Her toes were freezing and she immediately shoved them into the backs of Korra’s knees. Korra squealed and flipped over so she was facing Asami and then wrapped her legs around Asami’s waist so she couldn’t reach her with her feet anymore.

She eventually released her iron grip on Asami but stayed loosely draped over her. Asami wasn’t complaining, she liked the safe solidity of Korra’s touch. It grounded her the way nothing else in the world had for a long, long time.

“Hey ‘Sami,” Korra mumbled sleepily into her neck. “We’re going to figure this out together, ok? You’re not alone on this one.”

Asami tightened her hold. “You’re my best friend, Korra”

She actually felt Korra smile into her skin. The sensation sent tingles skittering down to her fingertips.

“Ok listen,” Korra whispered conspiratorially, “Don’t tell Naga this, but you’re my best friend, too.”

Naga huffed in her sleep from her spot down by their feet and both of them laughed. They were going to figure this out. Korra had her back.


	12. Asami Meets the Parents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quick recap since it's been awhile: Hiroshi is shady af, Korra wants to follow him and see where he goes off to all the time, and Asami is just sort of upset all the time. 
> 
> Asami meets the parents, by accident, tells a secret, by accident, and visits some old friends, on purpose.

Asami woke to the sound of something beeping and Korra’s face smushed into her stomach.

“Mmmph,” Asami groaned as she flopped her hand around Korra’s bedside table, trying to find whatever was making the noise so she could kill it.

“Stop moving,” Korra slurred into her shirt. Asami took a second to ponder how Korra could even breathe under all the covers and then grudgingly lifted up her head and actually opened her eyes.

“Korra, your laptop is… ringing?”

“Well answer it or something, I don’t care, just make it stop and then lay back down. I was in the perfect sleeping position.”

“Suffocation isn’t usually my preferred mode of sleep, but to each her own,” Asami grumbled as she fumbled for the laptop. She plopped it on her chest, narrowly missing Korra’s head and mashed the trackpad.

All of a sudden, a picture bloomed onto the screen. Actually, Asami corrected herself, it was a video. A video of a man and a woman, both of whom were staring rather bemusedly at her through the screen.

“Um, hello?” The man said. He had long brown hair that was pulled back out of his face and dark skin. He leaned in towards the screen and gave her a confused smile. “You’re not my daughter.” 

Asami barely heard his last statement because his crooked smile had immediately clicked into place in her brain. She knew that smile. That smile was probably her favorite thing in the world.

She realized all at once, her thoughts wooshing down over her like an icy waterfall, that she was currently video chatting Korra’s parents, in Korra’s bed, wearing Korra’s sweatshirt. And to make everything that much better, her hair looked like Naga had styled it herself.

The squeal she let out as she dove beneath the covers was almost as embarrassing as all her previous trespasses combined.

She reached back over the covers and spun the laptop away from where she was hiding. “Korra, WAKE UP!”

Korra finally poked her head up from under the blankets. “What is even happening right now?” She grumbled. She managed to wiggle up into a sitting position and Asami couldn’t help but smile as Korra swiped her bangs out of her eyes, squinted at the screen, and then enthusiastically greeted her parents.

“Mom, Dad! What’s up? It’s gotta be late where you are-Asami what are you doing, get up here!”

“Ah, so the stranger in your bed has a name,” Korra’s mom laughed.

Asami calculated if she could crawl under the covers all the way off the end of the bed and somehow roll out the door so that nobody ever saw her face again, but Korra effectively ended her mental scheming by grasping her arm and dragging her out from her hiding spot.

‘Umm, hi. I’m sorry about earlier. I wouldn’t have answered it if I’d known it was you- not that, I mean I’m sure you guys are nice people- but…” Asami sighed in defeat and self-consciously smoothed her hair while Korra and her family erupted into laughter.

“See guys, I told you she was funny.” Asami tried to drum up some righteous indignation about being laughed at, but she didn’t feel like they were really making fun of her. Also, Korra’s parents seemed warm and immediately likeable, just like their daughter.

Korra’s dad leaned in to peer closer at Asami’s face. “Ohhh, so this is that Asami! Nice to meet you, kid. You can call me Tonraq, and this is my wife Senna. Korra got her devilish good looks from me, though-OW!” Tonraq winced and rubbed his arm where Senna had whacked him, “And, _apparently _, she got her fighting spirit from her mother.”__

__Asami giggled at their antics. Yes, she could definitely tell Korra was related to these two. What a wonderful family._ _

__“It’s nice to meet you both as well. I ran into some traffic last night after the uh… incident, and Korra was kind enough to let me stay over and borrow some clothes.”_ _

__The lighthearted grins fell of Tonraq and Senna’s faces. Senna leaned in closer to the camera. “That’s actually what we called about. Korra, honey, is everything ok? We heard about the most recent bombing in the news. What’s going on? Is Tenzin involved in any of this?”_ _

__Korra nudged Asami softly with her elbow and said, “Hey, why don’t you take first shower. I’ll meet you down at breakfast, ok?”_ _

__Asami nodded a goodbye to Korra’s parents and took the out Korra had so easily given her. Even if it wasn’t what she was set on doing as a career, Korra knew how to navigate through and around tough topics, and she definitely seemed to sense when Asami didn’t want to talk about something._ _

__Asami showered quickly and didn’t bother to dry her hair. She tucked it up into a loose bun and put her own pants on. After a slight hesitation, she pulled Korra’s hoodie back on and then fit her leather jacket over it. It was a bit tight with the extra bulk, but to Asami the layers felt like armor. She knew she was being slightly ridiculous, but the thought of her day to come made her want to suit up as much as possible._ _

__After a bit of debate, Asami decided against saying goodbye to Korra. She could hear Korra laughing through the door and the softer sounds of her parents talking back. Asami didn’t want to interrupt, and she had a stop to make before Korra came over tonight to put their plan into action. Plan into action… they sounded like some teen spy novel. Or maybe Kim Possible. Asami liked to think she’d be Kim, but then again, Ron had always been hopelessly crushing on Kim, hadn’t he? Maybe she was better suited to the sidekick lifestyle. Asami started to chuckle to herself at the image of Korra in cargo pants, but then the figure of Hiroshi as a cartoony villain slipped uninvited into her head and her laugh cut itself off._ _

__She busies herself counting the stairs. Multiplying dividing, trying to make the numbers click into ratios and equations that made some sort of sense. By the time she’d padded all the way down to the living room, Asami discovered the final count, 13, fit nicely into the Fibonacci sequence and that solid fact stabilized her as she fished for her moped keys in the inner pocket of her jacket._ _

__“Not staying for breakfast?”_ _

__Asami startled at Tenzin’s unexpected presence. He was sitting on the front porch sipping on a mug of tea. She hadn’t noticed him through the screen door, hence her slight heart attack._ _

__She dropped down to sit next to him on the front steps. “You scared me, Tenzin. But no, I don’t think so. I have an… errand I need to take care of this morning._ _

__“So, how are you and Korra?”_ _

__Asami freezes, which probably looked pretty comical if she had been paying attention because her hand was halfway through it’s motion to brush her hair back out of her face and now she was just awkwardly face palming. But, Asami noticed none of this because she was too busy freaking the fuck out. How? How did Tenzin know about her feelings? And why would he assume-_ _

__“Uh, what? I mean-nothing is, nothing- ummm….” Asami paused long enough to actually look at Tenzin, who was turned towards her with a rather bemused expression on his face. Then Asami understood, about twenty seconds too late, dumbass, that Tenzin hadn’t been alluding to her feelings for Korra at all. But, if he had been clueless before, he certainly wasn’t now; her flustered reaction had made sure of that._ _

__Tenzin frowned thoughtfully, “Oh.” Then he lifted a large palm and patted Asami’s shoulder. His hand was warm from being wrapped around his teacup and it felt good, solid, bracing Asami’s shoulder. “Not exactly what I meant, but we can talk about that too if you want.”_ _

__Asami couldn’t help but smile weakly at how ridiculous this day was going so far. Tenzin noticed her smile and matched it with one of his own. She knew he probably felt a little awkward, offering to talk with a teenage girl about her feelings, but he was offering, and that gave Asami a bit of extra support that she needed to get through this day._ _

__The reminder of what she needed to go do now made the ever-present knot in her gut give a sickening roll and her smile drooped. She turned her head slightly so Tenzin wouldn’t notice._ _

__“Thank you, Tenzin, but I actually meant it when I said nothing is going on. Korra, uh, isn’t aware of my… feelings towards her. At all.”_ _

__Tenzin harumphs. “That kid can be pretty dense, can’t she?” Asami was startled into laughter._ _

__“I wouldn’t have her any other way, honestly. It’s part of her charm. But Tenzin,” Asami hesitates, “can you maybe not say anything to her about this? It’s not the best time right now.”_ _

__A slip of sorrow fell over Tenzin’s face and he turned to look towards where the city skyline would spike up into the sky, visible if not for the trees blanketing the quiet streets._ _

__“I cannot argue with you there, Asami.” He slowly unfolded his large frame into a standing position, and it reminded Asami just how much older Tenzin was then he looked. He offered her a hand up and she accepted._ _

__“I’ll see you around, Tenzin. Thank you for letting me stay last night.”_ _

__Asami nodded goodbye to him and slid her helmet on. The sun was inching its way over the tree line, and she had somewhere to be._ _

__\------------_ _

__It took her almost an hour to get downtown, going around all the blockades and reroutes. The Triple Threats owned nearly half a block of pawn shops and electronics stores that were now just smoke and rubble. Rubble that was making it sincerely hard for Asami to get where she was going._ _

__When she finally pulled up to the apartment building, it was past nine. She nodded at the doorman. “Hey, Jackson.”_ _

__The older man did a double take, “Why, is that Asami Sato? I haven’t seen you around here in ages! You’ve grown quite a bit.” He pulled her into a quick side hug and nodded at the elevators.  
“I’m pretty sure Oran and Testa are home. You remember which floor?”_ _

__Asami nodded, “Sure do. Thanks Jackson, I’ll see you around?”_ _

__Jackson smiled, the lines on his face almost overtaking his eyes. “Of course, my dear. Come see me more often.”_ _

__Asami was still a little on edge, but memories of sun hazy afternoons spent exploring this very apartment building eased the tension in her shoulders a bit. There was nothing to fear here. Only answers._ _

__She squirmed as the elevator rose, unsure as to how she’d be received. It really had been years since she’d ridden the elevator up to the 8th floor and clung to Hiroshi’s pant leg as he knocked on Apartment 8F’s door._ _

__The door swung open after only a few seconds, and then Asami was looking into the startled face of her old babysitter, Oran. Who, coincidentally, also happened to be Future Industry’s second in command._ _

__For the second time in five minutes, Asami was pulled into a hug. This time, she couldn’t help but giggle as Oran tucked her head under his arm and tweaked her bun._ _

__“Well, well, to what do I owe this pleasure? Did you smell breakfast? Tetsa’s making his world famous waffles. Come on in, little Sato.”_ _

__“Oran, I don’t really need breakfast, I just came to ask you about some things.”_ _

__Asami couldn’t help the fondness that bubbled up in her as the tall Water Tribe man pulled at his short beard, like he always did when he was curious._ _

__“Perfect, we can talk over breakfast!” Oran grinned, not about to let Asami shut him down, and they both knew it. She sighed in defeat and gestured with her chin for him to lead the way._ _

__“You know, you’re quite spry for an old man.”_ _

__Oran gasped in fake affront, “Old man? Old man! I’m only thirty-nine you little smart-aleck. Oy, Tetsa! Look who’s here!” Without waiting for his husband to turn around, Oran wrapped him in a bear hug from behind and spun him around to face Asami._ _

__Tetsa was a big, burly guy with tattoos that twined up and down both arms. He worked at a small flower shop down the street from Future Industry’s main tower. Oran had been a lower level engineer when he and Tetsa had first started watching Asami, after her mother died and Hiroshi was still trying to wrangle Asami, his grief, and the biggest company in Republic City. A close family friend, even before Yasuko’s death, he rose through the ranks at Future Industry with ease, and the promotion to second in command was well-deserved. Oran was a kind, brilliant man; someone Asami could trust._ _

__“Well hey there little monkey, where have you been?” Asami stepped forward into his offered hug and blushed at the old nickname._ _

__“I’m sorry guys, I really am. It’s just… school’s been tough, and I think there’s something going on with Da-“_ _

__“School’s been tough? You’re the smartest person I’ve ever met, Asami and that’s not an exaggeration. How could school be tough?” Oran looked a little manic, a little outraged, but mostly concerned. His moods were so familiar that nostalgia engulfed Asami. She missed spending time with Oran and Tetsa, she missed her dad coming to pick her up at the end of the day, tired with ink smeared fingertips, but always willing to crouch down and tug her into a hello hug._ _

__“Hush, Oran, let her speak would you? Actually, just go sit down at the table, both of you. The waffles are ready.” Tetsa shooed them out of the kitchen and Oran snagged an extra plate and fork for Asami off the counter._ _

__Asami pulled out her chair and looked at Oran, “School’s not hard because of the coursework. You know I’ve never quite fit in there.”_ _

__Oran nodded, subdued for once. “I know that, kiddo. But I thought, when you walked in here, that you looked stronger. Shoulders back, head up,” Oran gave her a small smile, “I don’t know, you just looked like you were doing alright.”_ _

__Asami leaned back in her chair, considering Oran’s words. “Actually, I made some new friends a couple of weeks ago. They’ve been good for me. School’s not my biggest problem any more… it’s the other thing.”_ _

__“The other thing?” Tetsa asked as he set a platter piled high with waffles down in the center of the table._ _

__“Lay it on us, I am fully ready to listen and not interrupt this time,” Oran grinned as he dug into his waffle. “Thanks hun, these are delicious.”_ _

__Asami rolled her eyes when Oran kissed Testsa’s knuckles and started stuffing waffle into her mouth. These two were the sappiest couple she’d ever met and she was very used to their antics by now._ _

__Her waffle slid down her throat and she methodically sliced it with her fork, taking time to settle herself and focus. She could trust these two, and she needed to know if Oran knew anything about her dad’s whereabouts these last few months. If he could clear everything up, then she and Korra didn’t have to go through with their plan tonight._ _

__Thinking of Korra put steel back into her bones, and she straightened so she could tilt her chin up to look Oran in the eyes._ _

__“Dad hasn’t been coming home from work. Or if he does, it’s late. Really late. He says he’s working on projects, but I’ve checked the computers, there’s nothing scheduled for him. He keeps missing Fridays.” at this, Oran frowned. He knew how much Asami valued the time working on her car with her father. Hell, he knew how much Hiroshi enjoyed it as well._ _

__“Oran, you need to tell me what he’s been doing at work. I need to know.” Asami stopped and took a few breaths. Her fingers were tingling and she could feel the anxiety uncurling in her gut and making it’s way up into her throat._ _

__Oran leaned back in his chair, tenting his fingers on his lap. The normal exuberant man was silent, and this alone was enough for Asami to know._ _

__“I… I don’t know what to tell you, kiddo. Whenever Hiroshi’s at work, which isn’t often these days, he’s locked up in his private workshop. You know him, he never lets anyone in there.” Oran sighed, “Honestly, I thought he was maybe starting to pull himself together and spend more time with you, more than just Fridays. But as it seems, that is not the case.”_ _

__“He hasn’t been at work?” Asami would have been embarrassed by the way her voice squeaked if a creeping horror wasn’t slowly choking her. Tetsa leaned over and laid a hand on her shoulder._ _

__“What’s going on, Asami?”_ _

__Asami abruptly stood up and her chair made an awful croaking noise as it scraped across the floor tiles._ _

__“Nothing-I don’t know. I have to go.” She grabbed her jacket off the counter and strode quickly to the door. Oran was protesting behind her and she heard Tetsa stand up, but she didn’t look back._ _

__Out in the parking lot, after nodding a short, pained goodbye to Jackson, Asami pulled out her phone and shot Korra a text._ _

___Have Tenzin drop you off at my place tonight. We’re doing this._ _ _

__Korra texted back within seconds._ _

___LET’S GOOOOO! (We’ll figure this out Asami, I promise)._ _ _

__Asami shoved her helmet on and gulped. She didn’t text Korra back, but her reply floated across her mind, unbidden._ _

___I don’t want to know. I really don’t._ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHAT'S UP GUYS LONG TIME NO SEE!  
> Sorry I've been gone for awhile, but my first semester of school just ended and I finally was able to pull myself together and type this chapter out. The promised action did not happen, because I had to introduce a new character that's a bit important.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey dudes, I have no idea how long this fic is going to be. Nothing extreme but maybe three or four chapters. I honestly only have one scene planned out and I'm building the rest around it as I go. Not the must structured form of writing but it feels really "organic" to use Bryke's terms. Anyway, enjoy!
> 
> (Also, criticisms or advice would be greatly treasured, I have a tumblr by the same name.)


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